HISTORY OF FIRST MASONIC TEMPLE COMES ALIVE AGAIN

(Ed.s Note: Masonry came to South Texas in February 1849 and the inscription on the of Mason Hall that once was the first Cameron County Courthouse is getting a little sprucing up and the story of the lodge is once again coming through.

This historic building was completed in 1883 and used as the Cameron County Courthouse until 1914 when they moved into a new building and sold this one to the Rio Grande Masonic Lodge No. 81.

This building lost most of its Victorian detail in 1933, when a hurricane destroyed its central clock tower and blew off the elaborate gabled roof and cupola. The roof was replaced with a flat roof.)