About Delta Lodge

by Wor. Richard Fredholm

The history of Delta Lodge is the history of eight lodges. Saint Paul's (1847), Lodge of Eleusis (1865), Delta (1869), Algonquin (1914), Theodore Roosevelt (1919), Atlantic (1920), Manet (1923), and Hesperia (1925). In 1987 Atlantic, Theodore Roosevelt, and Manet formed Quincy Lodge.

It all started shortly after the conclusion of the Anti-Masonic period of 1826-1843 when a group of South Boston Freemasons petitioned Grand Lodge to form Saint Paul's in 1847 in South Boston. In 1865 The Lodge of Eleusis was formed specifically for young college men in the Boston Area.

In 1869, a group from Orphans Hope Lodge, which met in the Weymouth Landing are of Weymouth, petitioned Grand Lodge to form Delta Lodge in Braintree. The other five lodges formed between 1914 to 1925 in the Boston and Quincy area.

Algonquin Lodge was formed in 1914 by Freemasons in the Dorchester area of Boston. Since then, Algonquin has met in Codman Square, Uphams Corner in Dorchester, River Street in Mattapan, then Milton (Lower Mills), Weymouth (Wessagusset Lodge), Quincy (Quincy Masonic Building), and finally in Braintree. When they were in Mattapan, they met at a church for $1 a year with the promise to maintain the building and refurbish it as a Masonic building until it burned down in 1971. Algonquin merged with Saint Paul's in 1988.

In 1919, Freemasons from Wollaston petitioned Grand Lodge and formed Theodore Roosevelt Lodge. After meeting at the Wollaston Masonic Building, they moved to the Quincy Masonic Building in November of 1927. On December 7th, 1941 the United States Army commandeered the Quincy Masonic Building to use as a barracks until April 1942 forcing them to meet at both the Wollaston and Atlantic Masonic buildings. In 1979 Theodore Roosevelt Lodge merged with Manet Lodge.

Atlantic Lodge was formed in 1920 by Freemasons living in the Atlantic section of Quincy (now called North Quincy). After first meeting at the Wollaston Masonic Building, they purchased land in 1923 on Newbury Ave, but before construction started, they had the opportunity to purchase the Methodist Church. They sold the land and held their first meeting in 1927 at the new Atlantic Masonic Building. Atlantic merged with Theodore Roosevelt - Manet in 1987 and formed Quincy Lodge.

In 1921, a group of Freemasons petitioned Grand Lodge to form Manet Lodge in Quincy. The name came from the word "Manet" which appears on the Seal of Quincy and means "endure, to continue, or to abide". A fitting name for a Masonic Lodge. Manet met at the Quincy Masonic Building and like Theodore Roosevelt Lodge, was forced to meet at the Atlantic Masonic Building during December 1941 through April 1942. Eventually merging with Theodore Roosevelt Lodge in 1979.

A group of Italian Masons, wanting to start a lodge for Italian descendants, petitioned Grand Lodge to form a lodge. Hesperia Magna lodge , a lodge predominantly comprised of Italian descendants already existed in Boston, but became clandestine after their charter was recalled in 1923. In 1925 Grand Lodge granted a charter to Hesperia Lodge and the former members of Hesperia Magna. Originally meeting at the South Boston Masonic apartments, they moved to Corinthian Hall at Massachusetts Grand Lodge in Boston in 1929. They moved to the Braintree Masonic Temple in the 1990's and eventually merged with Saint Paul's - Algonquin in 2004.

Gates of the Temple (1855), Adelphi (1865), and Rabboni (1869), spawned from Saint Paul's Lodge out of the South Boston apartments. Gates of the Temple merged with Rising Star in Stoughton in 2012. Adelphi merged with Noddle's Island in 1982 and then with Mose Michael Hays Lodge in 2003 in Needham.

After meeting on the 2nd floor of the South Boston Savings Bank until 1949, Saint Paul's Lodge moved in with Algonquin Lodge on River St in Mattapan. With three lodges meeting on River St and two others meeting a few miles away in Milton, Saint Paul's ultimately moved to the Braintree Masonic Building in 1959.

There was strong interest in forming a Masonic Lodge in Braintree as early as 1879, but approval for a Lodge did not come until 1900. Delta Lodge's first meeting was in Braintree Center in October 1900 at what is now the VFW building on Washington St. In 1986 the cornerstone of the present building was laid. In 1996 Delta merged with The Lodge of Eleusis and The Quincy Lodge.

Even though Saint Paul's - Algonquin and Delta have shared a building since 1959, it wasn't until 2013 that they merged and started sharing line officers.