It's high time someone set the record straight. Let's do it now, and let's get it right, once and for all. Who has the oldest Lodge in the Valley? Is it really Lodge 45?

Before I reveal to you the shocking truth, I want to set the stage for you. With all this hub-bub about so-called "Masonic Secrecy," everyone I talk with seems a little afraid to discuss this issue openly. Instead of vigorous debate using the traditional tools of reason, decorum (and copia), and proof, most of us have been exposed only to rumor, propaganda, conjecture, and bias. And the members of Lodge 45 want almost desperately for the answer to be, "Lodge 45 is the eldest!!!"

As a member of Lodge 45, I have been variously told that Lodge 45 is the "oldest Lodge in the country," or the "oldest Lodge west of the Alleghenies (the most popular of these catechisms)," or the "oldest permanent Lodge west of the Alleghenies," and even the "oldest continuous Lodge west of the Alleghenies." Someone once even went so far as to tell me that Lodge 45 is the "oldest Lodge west of the Mississippi," but I feel rather certain this particular claim cannot withstand rigorous scrutiny.

It has also been heartily suggested and widely published that Lodge 45 was originally one of those very-prestigious sounding revolutionary war era "Military Lodges," presumably meeting beneath the cloak of darkness and within the confines of mildewed canvas tents and under the tyle of actually sharpened swords. I wonder what size tent Lodge 45 would now need to meet?

Others insist that Lodge 45 was the first Lodge to open in the "new" Masonic Temple (at that mouthful of an address, "Fifth, Lytton, & Tennyson") back in the 1910's. Still others bumptiously proclaim that Lodge 45 "will be" the first Lodge to open in the new-"new" Masonic building in the North Hills. [ed. We Were]

There is, of course, some countervailing opinion. The leading contender for the older-than-Lodge-45-wannabees is that famous lodge "in Ohio," whose true name nobody knows (another Masonic Secret?). This Lodge is rumored to have met outside in the same stone-quarry for several centuries, during which time not one single rock has been removed or even slightly disturbed.

There are other contenders, but only fly-weights. I have been assured that there is an older Lodge "on the Kentucky/Virginia border." I have been told that a few elderly but extremely sagacious Masons have heard "something about a Lodge in Detroit," but, of course, no-one remembers just what it is there is to know about that Lodge. Perhaps it has something to do with the their Warrant...

So, I ask, how much of this is true? How much is mere guesswork? And how much of this is simply lost knowledge, known only within the recesses of the someplaces-hollow but soon to be book-filled walls of our Oakland Temple?

The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania has derived its authority from several sources. During the early 1700's, both the English "Antients" (formed in 1751) and "Moderns" (formed in 1717) have warranted Lodges in Pennsylvania. On 5 June 1730, the Grand Lodge of England (Moderns) granted a "Deputation" to Brother Daniel Coxe appointing Daniel Cox [sic] as "Provincial Grand Master of New York, New Jersey, and Pensilvania [sic]." In 1765, Pennsylvania received its third Warrant (Antient), the first (1761, Antient) having been captured by the French, and the second (1763, Antient) having issued from London but never having reached Pennsylvania. The Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania declared its independence in 1786 (with the dedicated assistance and steadfast loyalty of Lodge 45, whose Warrant was granted on 27 December 1785).

The Grand Lodge -- as it exists today -- follows of course the Ancient York Craft, and has chartered at least 68 Lodges outside Pennsylvania ("Masonic Jurisdiction Thereunto Belonging") but west of Pittsburgh's Lodge 45 (at 80° longitude), in addition to Lodges in Santo Domingo (nine Lodges) (70°); Buenos Aires, Argentina (58°); Montevideo, Uruguay (56°); "Kaskaskia;" and Alverado, Mexico.

As a Military Lodge, Lodge 45 lacks a certain measure of the right military "stuff." As early as 1759, Freemasons at Fort Pitt (then a part of Virginia known as "Fort Dunmore") are known to have passed and raised brothers. Regimental Lodge #19 (warranted in May 1779 by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania) met as early as 25 June 1780 also at Fort Pitt. The last known WM of Regimental Lodge #19 became a charter member of Lodge 45. Alas, there is no further record of a direct line from Regimental Lodge #19 to Lodge 45. In fact, Grand Lodge records show that its Warrant was actually surrendered (in 1784, called in along with those of all the travelling lodges).

The truth, my dear brothers (and readers): Lodge 45 can legitimately make claim to being (and I choose my words here carefully) the oldest permanent Lodge west of the Allegheny mountains, and that only with a few caveats. We were never a Military Lodge. Our original Warrant, as granted by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, is lost to history. Even the date of our first actual meeting is lost. We have not met continuously. During the Anti-Masonic period, we were dark for six months in 1835, we met only occasionally in 1836, and our Warrant was temporarily suspended in 1837. Lodge 45 was, however, the only lodge in Pittsburgh to have survived that era.

We can lay claim to being the first Lodge to have opened in the Oakland Temple. And with intrepidity, we can claim to be the first Lodge to open in the North Hills facility if it is built, and if we move there, and if no other Lodge is first. Of course, we probably will be. [ed. We were]

The mysteries lurking behind the blue and scarlet veils of "Ohio" and "Detroit" and "Kentucky" are these: The "Ohio" Lodge is "American Union Lodge #1" of Marietta, Ohio. It was first warranted by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts in February 1776, but ceased labor from 1783 until 1791 (at which time this lodge was munificently recognized by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania). The "Detroit" Lodge is Zion Lodge #1, but, reminiscent of the old southern tradition of "rejuvenated virgins," it is a much-rejuvenated Lodge: although warranted by the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York (Moderns) in 1764, it ceased its labor in 1768. It was rejuvenated first in September 1794 by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Canada (Antient) as "Zion Lodge #10," then again in 1806 by the Grand Lodge of New York as "Zion Lodge #1," then again in June 1826 by the Grand Lodge of Michigan as "Zion Lodge #1," and then but again by the Grand Lodge of New York in June 1844, after having ceased labor for 15 years during the Anti-Masonic Period. The "Kentucky" Lodge is Lexington Lodge #25, and was warranted by the Grand Lodge of Virginia, but not until 1788.

Brethren, you are now armed with the truth. What I have told you is accurate, reliable, and provable by citation to eminent authority. While the limitations of space for this article have prevented me from giving you the complete bibliography, if you ask me, I will send you them (thus divesting me of my apparent vice of uncited plagiarism and superfluity of quotation, thank you), or better yet, attend a meeting of Lodge 45 (last Wednesdays, 7:30 PM, at the Masonic Temple).

If you are passing by the wayside (wherever that is), and meet a brother of the Ohio or Detroit or Kentucky Lodges, and he should throw you some of that "older-than-thou" verbiage, you are now in duty bound to disagree!
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