Miles Lodge No. 165, A.F. & A.M.

                                                        Pennington Gap, Virginia

Miles Lodge No. 165 was chartered on December 3, 1896, in the small town of Pennington Gap, Virginia. The town was named after early settlers. The town of Pennington came into existence in 1890 when the Louisville and Nashville railroad put a rail line in to the coalfields of St. Charles, Virginia. The town of Pennington Gap was incorporated in 1891.

This Lodge has meet in several different locations. The earliest known meeting place was over the Andersons grocery store, which was located on what is now Morgan Avenue. When that building was destroyed by fire, the Lodge moved upstairs over the old Ford garage until 1945 when that building was destroyed by fire also. Most of the Lodge records were destroyed in the two fires. The Lodge then bought a building that once housed the Methodist Episcopal Church South, which had been partly destroyed by fire. In 1978 that building had deteriorated such that it was sold. A new Lodge building was constructed at 204 Maple Street and the Grand Lodge of Virginia dedicated it on August 14, 1980.

The first Worshipful Master was H. T. Parsons, who served from 1896 thru 1899. Two members of this Lodge have served as Grand Master of Masons in Virginia. They are Most Worshipful Earl C. Laningham, in 1945, and Most Worshipful Millard Hale Robbins, in 1964. Dr. George Breaker Setzler served as Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templar in Virginia in 1948. Dr. Setzler also served as secretary of this Lodge for twenty-seven years.