Southern Jurisdiction

The Masonic Traveler

Cover Photo: World’s first Washington Monument, Washington County, Maryland. Photograpy: Cordelia Dreisonstok

One of the salient features of the Scottish Rite Journal is the Masonic Traveler, a continuation of an SRJ series published decades ago called the Masonic Tourist. In fact, even in its early days the magazine presented occasional travel articles, such as a 1905 piece by Warren Harper on trolleying up the Jungfrau summit of the Swiss Alps to “make merry over little Swiss cakes and beer.”

The new series began with a visit to Williamsburg Lodge (chartered 1770) in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. We also enjoyed nearby reconstructions of eighteenth-century buildings explained by colonially-garbed historical interpreters. Our feature has since visited coastal Delaware (with its early Netherlandic history), the beautiful Scottish Rite Temple in Portland, Oregon, and Sandusky, Ohio— the only city with a deliberate Masonic Square and Compasses shape to its street designs.

An unusual Traveler article by M. Christopher Lee, 32º, took us back in time to Fredericksburg, Virginia, as he imagined future president George Washington becoming a Mason in the tavern where the still-extant Fredericksburg Lodge met:

John Jones’ tavern smells of strong hops, candle wax, burnt whale oil, cooked food, and men.

The ale is cold because it is November, and the barrels are stored in unheated rooms. A gentleman enters. He’s a tall fellow—a head higher than most of the other patrons. He has traveled from his home in Ferry Farm, just across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg. He has business here tonight, for he has come to knock on a door.

Writer John M. Bozeman, Ph.D., took us to neighboring Maryland to visit the world’s first monument to Br. George Washington:

On July 4, 1827, the citizens of Boonsboro walked two miles up South Mountain and began constructing a stone monument in honor of George Washington.. While the monument itself is of modest size, the dry-laid (i.e., mortarless) construction and Winnie-the-Pooh beehive shape exude a rustic charm and offer breathtaking vistas looking out over four states.

Most recently, the Masonic Traveler visited the Masonic Temple at Philadelphia. Managing Editor Mark Dreisonstok, 32º, KCCH, wrote in our pages: A visit to the home of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania is a vicarious trip to Renaissance Italy, Moorish Spain, and Ancient Egypt. We also witness Romanesque, Gothic, Classical Greek, and Ancient Celtic architectural splendor, all through lodge rooms masterfully recreating these historic cultures and building styles.

Corinthian Room, Philadelphia Masonic Temple, where murals tell classical tales of Greek mythology.

Photography: Joshua Mongardini

Not only U.S. locations are included in the series, for Simon Weissenberger, 32º, has taken us to explore the Monument of the Battle of Nations in Leipzig, Germany, in order to explain why it is a “Masonic treasure.”

We look forward to visiting more places, both familiar and unfamiliar, in future installments of the Masonic Traveler. As we know from Masonic tradition, Freemasonry is traveling!