Staunton Lodge No. 13 A.F. & A.M.

                                                              Staunton, Virginia

Although the available records of Freemasonry in Staunton, Virginia begin with the year 1784, it is almost certain that members of the fraternity came to Staunton much earlier. Staunton Lodge No. 13 received its charter from Edmund Randolph, Deputy Grand Master, on October 28, 1786. The Lodge was given the number 13; this number had previously belonged to Richmond Lodge, which later received the number 10, thus leaving the number 13 “unclaimed” for the time being. Staunton Lodge was the first Lodge to be chartered after the reassignment of numbers, and it received the number by which it has been known during its entire history. Many prominent citizens of the city, state, and nation have been members of this Lodge.

Staunton Lodge conferred the Royal Arch Degree for a number of years, until 1808, when this degree was given to the local Union Royal Arch Chapter No. 2, which was chartered during the same year.

Staunton Lodge is honored by being referred to as, “The Mother Lodge of Grand Masters,” since ten of the Lodges members have occupied the office of Grand Master of Masons in Virginia.”

Staunton Lodge celebrated its 200^th anniversary in 1986 with the Lodge having an open house for the general public.  Also, during the anniversary year, the Lodge found it necessary to sell the five-story building, which had been the Masonic Temple since 1895 due to excessive operating and maintenance expenses. Just as the brethren laid plans to build the present building during the One hundredth anniversary, so the brethren of today are laying plans to build a new temple to serve the craft in future years, as the 200^th anniversary year is celebrated. So with grateful appreciation to the brethren of the past, Staunton Lodge moves forward with confidence toward the future.