Masonic Lodge Organized in 1850

The growth of the Masonic fraternity in Eau Claire parallels the growth of the city itself.  In 1850, when Eau Claire was still only a town of 800, a number of Masons here received permission to organize a lodge, which operated under dispensation until formally chartered in 1859. The three principal officers of Eau Claire Lodge No. 112 named in the charter were: Leander B. Foote, village pathmaster, and later member of the first Board of Supervisors of Eau Claire County; Delos R. Moon, lumberman; and William Pitt Bartlett, first lawyer in Eau Claire County, later County Judge, first president of the Union National Bank, and president of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin. The first home of the lodge was on the second floor of a frame building located on the corner occupied by the present First Wisconsin National Bank. A few years later it was changed to another building on South Barstow Street, which burned in 1864, causing the loss of the lodge's early records. For a time after the fire, meetings were held in a room over a store at 420 South Barstow Street. Briefly the lodge then moved to DeArmand's Hall, at the corner of Third Avenue and Water Street, and members living on the other side of the river had to take the ferry or paddle across the Chippewa to get to meetings. In 1867, Eau Claire Chapter No. 36, Royal Arch Masons, was chartered, and in 1870 what is now Eau Claire Commandery No. 8, Knights Templar, was chartered. These two organizations, which are bodies of the York Rite of Freemasonry and consist of advanced degrees in that Rite, shared quarters with Eau Claire Lodge No. 112 at various locations, including the so-called Chappell block, Grand Avenue East, in 1882 and in the Opera House block in 1893.

Building Erected

These three Masonic groups, tired of renting, formed a corporation and erected a building presently situated at the northeast corner of South Barstow and Main Streets and occupied the second floor of this Masonic Temple for meetings beginning in 1899. A listing of the officers and members of the Masonic bodies would include the names of many of the community leaders. In 1913, George B. Wheeler, a banker, became the third Eau Claire Mason to be elected to preside over all Wisconsin Masons as their Grand Master. The period around World War I saw an even more rapid growth begin in the Eau Claire Masonic bodies. Early in 1922, largely under the leadership of Wheeler, a Lodge of Perfection, the first of the four coordinate bodies of Scottish Rite Masonry, was organized in the city. Its success was immediate, and the remaining three bodies were organized shortly thereafter. With the establishment of the Scottish Rite Valley of Eau Claire, more popularly known as Eau Claire Consistory, it became apparent that a much larger Masonic Temple would be needed. Through the combined efforts of Eau Claire Lodge No. 112, the two bodies of the York Rite and Eau Claire Consistory, the present Masonic Temple on Graham Avenue was constructed and occupied in 1928.  Wherever possible the Masonic Board of Trustees has permitted use of the Temple's facilities for other civic, cultural and charitable purposes, such as the quarterly visit of the Bloodmobile of the American Red Cross and charitable endeavors by other Eau Claire clubs. 

--Taken from the Eau Claire Leader / The Daily Telegram, Progress Edition, 1968