HISTORY

 

     Chartered by the Grand Lodge of Indiana in 1898, Mulberry Masonic Lodge #618 operated under a Charter of Dispensation in 1897.  Mulberry Lodge opened up in their current location, renting the upstairs of the old bank building from an insurance company, who owned the building and operated out of the first floor.  An old external set of stairs came off the south side of SR38 allowing entrance to the Lodge (west side of the building).  The current apartment on the second floor, that still uses those stairs, was the old Lodge dining room.

     The entire building was bought in the mid-1960's and renovated to what it is today.  A new interior set of stairs was built and the apartment / liquor store next door were walled off and sold.  

     You can still see remnants of the bank in the 'teller window' that functions as our food service line, and the old vault was housed in what is now our storage closet.  

     Other updates have included removing the old hot water system and boiler that used to provide the heat and installing a gas HVAC system.  A flat rubber roof was installed in the early 1990's and new floors were installed prior to our 100 Year Anniversary in 1998.  Air conditioning still remains elusive for us.

     The church that was once next door has been razed and is now a parking lot.

    The Order of the Eastern Star shared our facilities for many years before merging with Jefferson.  Our sign out front still carries their emblem.

    Countless hours have been spent scrubbing floors, applying paint, and sweeping carpets.  The downstairs bathroom has been remodeled (2018) and light fixtures / ceiling fans have evolved over the years (LED in some cases now).  We rented a man-lift in the summer of 2018 to clean the exterior, paint & caulk the windows, and tuck-point brick where we could.

     Our building is one of our members, and he's aged well, but is certainly tired.  There may come a day when a total renovation or a new facility will be in order.