Georgia Masonic Lodges

About Freemasonry in Georgia

A deep look at Masonic history, the oldest lodges, the admission process, and notable Freemasons connected to Georgia.

History of Freemasonry in Georgia

Georgia is one of the oldest Masonic jurisdictions in the United States, with documented lodge activity going back to the colonial era. Solomon's Lodge No. 1 in Savannah was constituted on February 21, 1734, by James Oglethorpe, the founder of the Georgia colony, under authority from the Grand Lodge of England. That makes it one of the oldest continuously operating lodges in the Western Hemisphere and one of the very few in the Americas with a colonial English warrant still recognized as a continuous line.

For decades, Georgia lodges operated under the authority of the Provincial Grand Master of Georgia, appointed from London. After the American Revolution disrupted those ties, the surviving Georgia lodges met in Savannah on December 16, 1786, and organized the Grand Lodge of Georgia as an independent body. The state's antebellum Masonic life grew alongside cotton, tobacco, and the western frontier counties; lodges proliferated through the 1830s and 1840s. The Civil War devastated Georgia lodges, particularly during Sherman's march through the state in 1864.

Reconstruction-era recovery was slow but steady, and by the 1880s Georgia Masonry was rebuilding rapidly. The 20th century brought the construction of the impressive Grand Lodge building and the establishment of the Masonic Home in Macon. The post-World War II era brought membership peaks of nearly 100,000, followed by the long demographic decline that affected mainstream American fraternity life from the 1970s onward.

Oldest and Most Historic Lodges in Georgia

Solomon's Lodge No. 1 in Savannah, chartered February 21, 1734 directly by James Oglethorpe under English warrant, is the senior lodge of Georgia and one of the oldest in North America. Among its early members were figures from Oglethorpe's colonial administration. Hiram Lodge No.

2 in Augusta dates to the late 1700s and reflects the migration of settlers up the Savannah River. Social Lodge No. 1, originally organized in Savannah in 1735 as a parallel body, has had a complex history of mergers and re-numberings. Mount Vernon Lodge No.

22 and Washington Lodge No. 21, both chartered in the early 1800s, served the early western frontier counties. Mount Olive Lodge No. 24 in Madison is one of the older middle Georgia lodges.

Mount Zion Lodge No. 9 in Sparta dates to the late 1700s/early 1800s. St. John's Lodge No.

4 in Sunbury, an old colonial coastal town, was historically significant before that town faded. Macon Lodge No. 5 in Macon, a major central Georgia lodge, has produced multiple Grand Masters. Each of these old lodges holds substantial historical material, and the Grand Lodge of Georgia archives in Macon are a serious resource for genealogical and historical research on antebellum and early postbellum Georgia families.

Georgia Masonic Lodges by the Numbers

The Grand Lodge of Georgia is among the larger Masonic jurisdictions in the United States. It currently oversees approximately 350 to 400 constituent lodges with combined membership in the 35,000 to 45,000 range. Georgia Masonry is organized into more than 50 Masonic Districts, each led by a District Deputy Grand Master. Major lodge concentrations exist in metro Atlanta, Macon, Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, and Athens, with substantial activity throughout the rural counties as well.

The Grand Lodge office and the Georgia Masonic Home are located in Macon, in the central part of the state, and the official website at glofga.org provides current lodge directories, district maps, calendars, and information for prospective members. Georgia's annual Grand Communication is one of the larger gatherings in U.S. mainstream Masonry.

How to Become a Freemason in Georgia

To become a Mason in Georgia, you must be a man at least 18 years old, of good moral character, who professes belief in a Supreme Being. The standard process begins informally: you visit a lodge, attend a dinner before a stated meeting, and meet members. To formally apply, you submit a petition signed by two Master Masons of the lodge. The petition is read in open lodge, an investigation committee is appointed, and committee members will typically visit you and your family at home for an interview.

Then the lodge takes a secret ballot that must be unanimously favorable. Initiation fees in Georgia generally range from $200 to $500 for the three degrees combined, with annual dues commonly between $75 and $250. Georgia requires proficiency examinations between degrees, and the entire process from petition to Master Mason typically spans six months to a year, depending on degree schedules and your study pace. The Grand Lodge of Georgia is the only authority for issuing charters and conferring the three Symbolic Lodge degrees in the state under the mainstream system.

One Georgia-specific note: the state has a relatively strong tradition of one-day classes for the third degree in some districts, although the standard three-meeting progression is still the norm in most lodges.

Notable Georgia Freemasons in History

Georgia has had many famous Freemasons across its 290+ years of Masonic history. James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony, was the founding member of Solomon's Lodge No. 1 in 1734 and chartered it personally with his English warrant. Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Georgia governor, was a Mason.

William Few, signer of the U.S. Constitution from Georgia, was a Mason. James Jackson, an early Georgia governor and U.S. Senator, was a Mason.

John Forsyth, U.S. Secretary of State under Jackson and Van Buren, was a Georgia Mason. In the 19th century, Robert Toombs, Confederate Secretary of State and U.S. Senator, was a member of a Georgia lodge.

Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy and later Governor of Georgia, was a Mason. Howell Cobb, Speaker of the U.S. House and Confederate official, was a Mason. In more recent times, Senator Richard B.

Russell Jr., one of the most influential 20th-century Senators and namesake of the Russell Senate Office Building, was a Georgia Mason. Senator Sam Nunn was raised a Master Mason. Senator Herman Talmadge was a Mason and a former Georgia Governor. Bobby Jones, the legendary Atlanta golfer who founded the Masters Tournament, has been associated with Atlanta Masonic activity in some sources.

Country music star Brad Paisley, while not a Georgian by birth, has been associated with Masonic activity. Many county sheriffs, judges, mayors, agricultural leaders, and businessmen across two centuries appear in Georgia lodge records, often spanning multiple generations within a single family across the Black Belt and the Piedmont.

Prince Hall Freemasonry in Georgia

Prince Hall Masonry has been a cornerstone institution of African American life in Georgia since the 19th century. The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Georgia was chartered in 1870, making it one of the older Prince Hall Grand Lodges in the South. From Reconstruction through Jim Crow and into the modern era, Prince Hall lodges in Georgia served as critical infrastructure for African American economic, educational, and civic life. Lodges in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Macon, and Albany supported scholarships, mutual aid funds, business networks, and meeting spaces during periods when Black Georgians were systematically excluded from public institutions.

Notable Prince Hall Masons from Georgia have included educators, ministers, civil rights leaders, and business pioneers connected to Atlanta's historically Black colleges and to the broader civil rights movement headquartered in Atlanta during the 1950s and 1960s. The relationship between the mainstream Grand Lodge of Georgia and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia evolved slowly. Mutual recognition was achieved later than in many other jurisdictions, with formal recognition established in the 21st century after years of negotiation. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia is headquartered in Atlanta and oversees the parallel structure of Eastern Star, youth orders, Scottish Rite, and other appendant bodies serving the African American Masonic community.

Frequently Asked Questions about Masonic Lodges in Georgia

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.glofga.org/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lodge_of_Georgia
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon%27s_Lodge_No._1
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_Worshipful_Prince_Hall_Grand_Lodge_of_Georgia