Sandy Valley Lodge No. 17, A.F. & A.M.

                                                               Grundy, Virginia

Sandy Valley Lodge No. 17 is the only Masonic Lodge in Buchanan County. The Lodge was chartered in December 1898, with twenty members. There were no high schools nor standard gauge railroads, nor were there any state maintained highways.

At that time the more than 500 square miles of the area was more than 90% covered with virgin forest. It was about that time that some large lumber companies were beginning to harvest the fine timber in this area. This was about all of the industry in the county. Due to the very steep terrain practically all of the farming consisted of small hillside farms. For more than thirty years the timber industry was the chief business and it was not until about 1930, that the Norfolk and Western Railroad acquired the narrow gauge system and the coal industry was started on a commercial basis. For more than fifty years Buchanan County has produced about 3 percent of all coal mined in Virginia, and the population of the county has more than tripled during that period.

Tradition has it that the first meetings of Sandy Valley Lodge were held high on the mountain side above the little town of Grundy under an over hanging cliff. Later on, the meetings were held at various places in the town. For many years the Lodge met in a small room over the Grundy post-office, across the street from the courthouse. In 1936, this building was removed, and replaced by a modern brick office building and post-office. For over a year no regular place was found to hold meetings. They were held in school rooms, basements and abandoned buildings in the town.

In 1947, the local American Legion Post constructed a small building for their meetings and rented the top floor to the Lodge for about nine years. The dimensions of the Lodge room were about 25 feet by 40 feet with a low ceiling.

In 1946, the Odd Fellows built a somewhat larger building and very generously rented their Lodge hall to the Masons for about seven years. The area of this Lodge room was about 35 feet by 50 feet with an eight-foot ceiling, and was a great improvement over the previous accommodations.

During the period from 1936 to 1952, Sandy Valley Lodge became one of the fastest growing Lodges in the state, as the coal industry was booming and people were moving into the county. Many of these new residents were members of the Fraternity from other jurisdictions.

In 1952, the Lodge was able to boast of a home of its own. The present facility consists of a modern building 100 feet by 68 feet with a banquet hall that will seat 400, and a Lodge hall 60 feet by 40 feet with a 16-foot ceiling and fully air-conditioned. The Lodge is completely out of debt.