Lodge History


In 1841 The Republic of Texas gave an empresario grant to twenty American and English investors led by William S. Peters, this land became known as Peters Colony. Over the course of the next nearly twenty years, Peters Colony encompassed all or part of nine counties in north central Texas. Within Peters Colony, The Town of Flower Mound was established soon after Sam Houston settled a tribal dispute in 1844 and Indian raids in the area ceased. Situated in the south central portion of Denton County, it was named for a fifty-foot high mound covered with Indian paintbrush; Indians once used the mound as a holy place. Within the next couple of years, Freemasons who were among the early settlers in the surrounding area began holding unofficial meetings in varying locations.

One of these locations was known as Mason’s Hole and is said to have been located along Prairie Creek, North of Main Street and West of I-35. A map of early settlements in the area shows a Masonic meeting place near Prairie Creek in 1846. Shortly thereafter, in 1853 the adjacent town of Lewisville was established by Basdeal W. Lewis after purchasing the property previously know as Holford Prairie, also a part of what had been know as Peters Colony.

The first documented meetings of Masons took place in 1856 in a barn that was also used as a public school and church, built on the M. B. Donald Farm where the current Presbyterian Church and Cemetery are located on 3040 in Flower Mound. In January of 1857, a Charter was issued by The Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas for John B. Denton Lodge No. 201. The Lodge was named in honor of John B. Denton whom Denton County and its county seat, the city of Denton, were named for. John B. Denton was a pioneer preacher and lawyer who was killed in an Indian battle in 1841. Few verified accounts of John B. Denton exist. Most of the written accounts are highly romanticized. All agree that he was an eloquent speaker and leader who left his mark on Northeast Texas. The John B. Denton Lodge continued to meet at the Flower Mound school until June 13, 1859 at which time, The Grand Lodge of Texas brought attention to the fact that the Lodge was not meeting in a suitable building and steps were taken to erect a more permanent home. Accordingly, the Lodge moved to “Old Hall Cemetery” where a new two-story building had been erected.

This was the earliest permanent home of John B. Denton Lodge. During the Civil War a company was mustered into the Confederate service at the “Old Hall Cemetery.” The building at “Old Hall Cemetery was erected by both the efforts of the Lodge members and the members of first church in the area. This new building also housed the public school in Lewisville and was described as a “pretty roomy affair” by J.H. Donald in an interview in August 1930. In 1871 the Lodge purchased a piece of property at the corner of College and Cowan street and erected a new two story Lodge building which was also used as a school, called the Lewisville Masonic Institute. In 1890, John B. Denton Lodge’s name was changed to Lewisville Lodge No. 201, to help eliminate the confusion with Stanfield Lodge No. 217, located within the city of Denton.

In 1891, the property upon which the temple now stands was purchased and a two-story structure was erected with the bottom portion used as a grocery store and the upper as the meeting hall for the Masonic Lodge. This structure burned during a fire, which swept through the north side of town on August 4, 1918. Furthermore, all the Lodge records and that of the local newspaper were also destroyed in the fire. The joint property owner rebuilt what was then a grocery store on the ground floor but it was not until 1920 that the Lodge had sufficient funds to remove the roof and rebuild the second story. The ground floor of the building continued to house various business throughout the coming years while the second story continued to serve as the home of the Lewisville Masonic Lodge until 1981 at which time the present Lodge at 603 Manco was erected.

During this era, many changes came about. There were good times, and good fellowship, and there were also some rough times when the Lodge was hard pressed for finances. But we endured, and our members always gave freely of their time and talent to keep Masonry alive in this community. The proof of this surrounds us today as we view our present, beautiful temple, completed during 1981, and which was erected as those before, with the labor, materials, and money contributed by our members. Furthermore, many non-Masons also gave generously in order that our Masonic Lodge could add its pillar of strength to the community.