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Stated Communication: 3rd Wed. of every Month Dinner: 6:30pm Lodge Opens: 7:30pm |
| Chartered in 1882 Celebrating 125 Years! |
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| Go to Building History | |||
| Past Masters of Ellenburg #39 | Go to End of List | ||
| Past Master | Year | Past Master | Year |
| William McGuire | 1891 | ||
| Levi Farnsworth | 1882 | Martin Cameron | 1892 |
| B. D. Southern | 1883 | H. M. Baldwin | 1893 |
| S. T. Packwood | 1884 | J. E. Frost | 1894 |
| S. C. Davidson | 1885 | B. S. Scott | 1895 |
| S. T. Packwood | 1886 | B. S. Scott | 1896 |
| S. C. Davidson | 1887 | Dexter Shoudy | 1897 |
| J. P. Sharp | 1888 | J. P. Sharp | 1898 |
| J. P. Sharp | 1889 | J. P. Sharp | 1899 |
| M. Gilliam | 1890 | F. N. McCandless | 1900 |
| Past Master | Year | Past Master | Year |
| F. N. McCandless | 1901 | A. E. Emerson | 1911 |
| F. N. McCandless | 1902 | W. A. Steinman | 1912 |
| J. E. Veach | 1903 | A. L. Kreidel | 1913 |
| J. H. Scott | 1904 | D. L. Jenkins | 1914 |
| H. M. Baldwin | 1905 | John N. Faust | 1915 |
| H. W. Eldred | 1906 | Frank Crimp | 1916 |
| J. A. Patchett | 1907 | J. A. Whitfield | 1917 |
| J. A. Patchett | 1908 | Fred P. Wolf | 1918 |
| J. A. Patchett | 1909 | C. C. Churchill | 1919 |
| A. E. Emerson | 1910 | E. E. Henderson | 1920 |
| Past Master | Year | Past Master | Year |
| Kenneth J. Larimer | 1921 | Ben J. McDonald | 1931 |
| L. A. Jungst | 1922 | E. C. McMechan | 1932 |
| Arthur McGuire | 1923 | John A. McCune | 1933 |
| James H. Van Gesen | 1924 | James C. Sterling | 1934 |
| E. Z. Kreidel | 1925 | Lloyd R. Fulton | 1935 |
| Arthur Sorenson | 1926 | A. Eugene Fulton | 1936 |
| John T. Honeycutt | 1927 | Ellis T. Bramlett | 1937 |
| James M. Snowden | 1928 | Charles E. Culp | 1938 |
| Clayton A. Lowe | 1929 | Herman G. Turner | 1939 |
| Archie Crim | 1930 | John A. Shaw | 1940 |
| Past Master | Year | Past Master | Year |
| Elmer T. Fredrick | 1941 | John F. Breckon | 1951 |
| Andy H. Gustafson | 1942 | Albert A. Hanneman | 1952 |
| John W. Bilbie | 1943 | John D. McCullough | 1953 |
| George P. Williams | 1944 | Arthur M. Gregory | 1954 |
| R. I. Marsh | 1945 | Harrel J. Shull | 1955 |
| Henry E. George | 1946 | Raymond A. Gardine | 1956 |
| John E. McKnight | 1947 | W. William Sheckler | 1957 |
| Theo O. Evanson | 1948 | Hiram H. Colburn | 1958 |
| Wilfred F. Baker | 1949 | N. Harold Sorenson | 1959 |
| Erich A. Brattkus | 1950 | Thomas H. Howard | 1960 |
| Past Master | Year | Past Master | Year |
| Robert J. Johnston | 1961 | Robert B. Leahy | 1971 |
| James R. DeVries | 1962 | James F. Hunter | 1972 |
| Edward L. Sullivan | 1963 | Raymond A. Gardine | 1973 |
| H. Everett Railsback | 1964 | Thomas H. Howard | 1974 |
| Jack M. Burrows | 1965 | Wallace W. Hoover | 1975 |
| Glen A. Hartman | 1966 | Hiram H. Colburn | 1976 |
| D. Paul Cotton | 1967 | Warren O. Kidder | 1977 |
| Lawrence H. Stewart | 1968 | Larry C. Helms | 1978 |
| Raymond T. Kays | 1969 | Henry R. Stampf Jr. | 1979 |
| James H. Tatum | 1970 | William V. Cory Jr. | 1980 |
| Past Master | Year | Past Master | Year |
| Vernon L. LaBay | 1981 | Richard L. Denner | 1991 |
| Harold W. Grissom | 1982 | Donald E. Sorenson | 1992 |
| Edward A. Kiesz | 1983 | Frank W. Phelps Sr. | 1993 |
| Vernon L. LaBay | 1984 | C. William Elkins | 1994 |
| Edward L. Sullivan | 1985 | Carl Christensen | 1995 |
| Andrew J. Olson | 1986 | Andrew J. Olson | 1996 |
| Alfred L. Taylor | 1987 | Neil Leibly | 1997 |
| Harold W. Jenkins | 1988 | C. William Elkins | 1998 |
| Ben B. Johnson | 1989 | Alfred L. Taylor | 1999 |
| Alfred L. Taylor | 1990 | Andrew J. Olson | 2000 |
| Past Master | Year | ||
| Ronald D. Elkins | 2001 | ||
| Neil Leibly | 2002 | ||
| Gregory M. Maes | 2003 | ||
| Robert Crosier | 2004 | ||
| Nicholas Henderson | 2005 | ||
| Nicholas Henderson | 2006 | ||
| Tedd Hansen | 2007 | ||
| Patrick Stanton | 2008 | Current Master | |
| 2009 | |||
| 2010 | |||
| Building History | Back to the Top | ||
Ellensburg Lodge #39 Timeline of first 30 years. Researched and complied by W.B. Tedd Hansen.
A very special thank you to Milton Wagy for his fabulous research assistance.
January 1882: Working dispensation to meet as a Lodge is obtained from the Grand Lodge of the Territory of Washington.
February 14, 1882: First meeting in Odd Fellows Hall at the NW corner of Third and Pearl streets.
July 4, 1882: First meeting in "the Masonic Hall," a room it began to rent as meeting space from Brother Thomas Johnson, the Lodge Treasurer and a prominent business person in early Ellensburg. Although there are no records to confirm it, this room was likely located in the Johnson House, a building owned by Thomas Johnson, and one of the first hotels in Ellensburg. The lodge met here from June of 1882 through February of 1889.
February 16, 1889: First meeting in newly erected Masonic Temple at the NW corner of Fourth and Pine.
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Click on the picture for a large image. |
July 4, 1889: First Masonic Temple burns down in a catastrophic fire that leveled the entire business district of Ellensburg. The financial loss from this fire was estimated at two million dollars.
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The "new" Masonic Hall, just a several months old, right after the fire. In front of the building are probably a few frustrated Brothers. Click on the picture for a large image. |
July 6, 1889: Just two days after the conflagration the Lodge held its regular stated meeting in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer's Hall.
July 20, 1889: The Lodge began to meet in the Knights of Pythias Hall.
December 7, 1889: The Lodge began to meet in a room rented from John Nash, an early building contractor in Ellensburg. There is no mention of the address of this building in the minutes, but from the records of that time it is likely this building was the Nash Block located on the SE corner of Main and Fifth Streets. The Lodge paid Mr. Nash the sum of $50 per month for the rental of this hall and in turn sub-rented this space to other fraternal organizations in Ellensburg on non-meeting nights. The Lodge met in this building for approximately one year.
January 18, 1890: The Lodge entertained a proposition from community member William H. Peterson, the first auditor for Kittitas County and later a postmaster in Ellensburg. Mr. Peterson proposed to give the Lodge the deed to a lot on Sixth Avenue in exchange for an undivided one-half interest in a two-story brick building with a metal roof to be constructed at Lodge expense on that lot, ownership of the west wall of this building, and the common use of stairs to be build from Sixth Avenue up the west side of the building. The Lodge accepted this proposition at its stated meeting held on February 1, 1890.
June 10, 1890: The cornerstone for the new temple on Sixth Avenue was laid, an event that coincided with the meeting of Grand Lodge in Ellensburg, and the minutes indicate that Grand Master presided at that ceremony.
December 20, 1890: First stated meeting in the new Temple on Sixth Avenue.
1893: The Panic of 1893, a nationwide economic decline, left the Lodge unable to make payments on the loans it had assumed to finance the building of the new Temple.
May 4, 1895: After the failure of several attempts to refinance its indebtedness, the Lodge is forced to accept foreclosure on the outstanding construction loan. It then began to rent the temple as a meeting space from the new titleholder.
March 6, 1897: The titleholder doubles the rent charged to the Lodge for use of the Temple. Unable to afford the new rent, the Lodge votes to abandon the new Temple.
July 17, 1897: After a period of five months, the Lodge began to meet again in the Club Block building on Fifth Avenue, between Main and Pearl, located in the now-vacant lot just east of the present Elks Lodge.
January 15, 1908: The Lodge passed a resolution "that Ellensburg Lodge #39 F. & A.M. purchase the old Masonic Temple." This purchase is funded by a series of subscriptions taken out by members of the Lodge to be repaid to their heirs upon death of the member.
March 11, 1908: A letter from the Grand Master was read and filed granting the Lodge permission to change its place of meeting. The Lodge reoccupies the Temple at some point between 1908 and 1909.
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Ellensburg Knights Temlpar We think this must be 1909. The city paved the road in 1910. The "Temple" was lost to us and then regained in 1908-9. Notice the dirt road, the lack of paint on the building and the residential house to the west. Click on the picture for a large image. Click here for a much larger version. |
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