Cape Fear:
The birth of Masonry in North Carolina
The earliest geographical reference to Masons in North Carolina appears in the Official History of the United Grand Lodge of England, 1717-1967.

It indicates that in 1735 Masons gathered at Cape Fear, which is the Wilmington of today, to form a lodge. That earliest colonial lodge is thought to be the forerunner of the one that received a warrant in 1754 from the Premier Grand Lodge. It was later named St. John’s Lodge, chartered by the Grand Lodge of England.

According to Launching the Craft by Thomas Parramore, there were two very early North Carolina lodges, Solomon Lodge and Hanover Lodge. “Down on the Cape Fear River, where so many enduring things had their beginnings, tales are still told of the grand old mother of North Carolina lodges that is said to have prospered for some twenty years while George II still ruled the British empire and pirates roamed the coastal sea lanes in quest of booty. This was Solomon Lodge at Masonboro Inlet, eight miles southeast of Wilmington. The town of Wilmington, indeed, was still a rustic hamlet known as Newton, or New Town, in 1735 when Solomon Lodge is said to have been organized.

“The Solomon Lodge legend is intertwined with that of another prehistoric lodge that is thought to have stood at or near the same site. This was ‘Hanover Lodge,’ an old lodge believed to have been founded by veterans of the French and Indian War (1756-1763). The substance behind the tradition is that Caleb Grainger, who purchased land on the inlet in 1758, had served as a captain with a North Carolina unit which saw active duty during that war. There is reason to suppose that Grainger was among the North Carolinians who were enrolled in the Army Lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts during the conflict. When Grainger died in 1765, his will was found to express his desire to be buried with Masonic honors.”

Produced by the public relations committee of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Masons in North Carolina,
2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27628 MMVIII
Author/editor: Walter J. Klein wklein(at)carolina.rr.com