George Roskruge & S. Barry Casey Masonic Memorial Library & Museum
Preserving the rich history of Arizona Freemasonry
Episode 1:
1897, Bisbee Grand Communication
Click play below to listen to Episode 1 of Masonry in the 48th State
In episode 1 of Masonry in the 48th State, we go back to the year 1897. A new lodge had just formed in Arizona a year earlier, Perfect Ashlar Lodge No. 12 was calling Bisbee home.
That same year, the Grand Lodge of Arizona decided to hold its Grand Communication in Bisbee and, with the help of the brothers of Perfect Ashlar Lodge No. 12., they held a historic meeting in the Copper Queen Mine.
This picture shows the Masonic Grand Lodge of Arizona as it was held in the wonderful cave in the mine of the Coper Queen Consolidated Mining Company- the first and only time in modern history where this illustrious Order held its meeting in one of Nature's most beautiful Lodge-rooms. It is reached by descending a perpendicular shaft two hundred feet, thence through a winding tunnel over eighteen hundred feet long."
"Grand Lodge of Arizona F. & A. M.
Held in the wonderful Copper Queen Mine at Bisbee, Arizona, Nov. 10, 1897
*An Excerpt from pg. 2 of the Journal of the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge at its Sixteenth Annual Communication, held at Bisbee, November A∴ L∴ 5897
Click play above to listen to Episode 1 of Masonry in the 48th State