Sunday Series: Inside the Masonic Temple

Whenever I walk through Tuckahoe, I'm always fascinated by the Masonic Temple on Main Street.  In addition to the marvelous architecture, there's the mystery in my mind about who exactly the Freemasons are—as I tend to get them all jumbled up with the Elks and the Knights of Columbus and the Shriners and such.

So after walking past the temple this morning, I decided to go straight to the source.  The Dunwoodie Lodge #863, as it's called, has a website, and on it, Robert McPhillips, the senior warden of the lodge, dispels a few myths.

Now despite what you might have heard or read about Masonry there are some misconceptions. Here are but a few, according to the website:

1) We’re NOT a secret society. We are however a fraternity, and as such we hold meetings in private, like any other fraternity would. Ponder this if you will... would Masons post Masonic emblems on ALL of our buildings, or for that matter wear Masonic rings if we were a secret society? And let’s not forget you’re reading this on a website that anyone can access, which even includes a link to our bulletins.  

2) We’re NOT a cult or religion. In fact we don’t require any man to be of any particular faith, but just simply have a   faith. This is because faith in God is the cornerstone of Freemasonry.

3) We’re NOT plotting to take over the world as has been asserted by conspiracy theorists in the past. In fact, the opposite is true. Masons are very patriotic men and a more patriotic group of men you will not likely find. Many of our founding fathers were Masons, like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and 11 signers of the Declaration of Independence, to name but a few. And considering the fact that Freemasonry has been around for many centuries we would have to be the slowest conquerors in history if that were our agenda. It’s almost laughable.

So there you have it, there's not much of a secret to tell.  Frankly, I was a  bit disappointed, preferring to think, I suppose, that something nefarious was going on behind the closed doors of the building, some global string-pulling, perhaps, right from the heart of Tuckahoe. 

N.B. The building also houses the Marble Masonic Historical Society, which is dedicated  to preserving the history of the Freemasons and the marble industry in Tuckahoe.