The Grand Lodge of New Mexico
Why this matters
In August 1877 representatives of three Masonic Lodges met in Santa Fe and constituted the Grand Lodge of New Mexico. Montezuma No. 1 in Santa Fe, Chapman No. 2 in Las Vegas, Aztec No. 3 in Las Cruces. Three Lodges, one territory, the published founding moment of organized Masonry in this state. Statehood was still 35 years away.
Every Mason in New Mexico is asked, sooner or later, when his Grand Lodge was founded and by whom. The published answer (1877, Santa Fe, three Lodges, by authority of older constituent jurisdictions) places your Lodge in the published 1813-Union descent and in the wider American Grand Lodge family. Knowing it is part of being a Mason in this state, not just in the Craft generally.
What this chapter is
Masonry came to New Mexico with the Santa Fe Trail, the Mexican War, and the railroads. The Grand Lodge was organized in 1877 and has been the regular Masonic authority in the territory and state ever since.
How to practise it
A lesson walks the same seven steps every time. Read the intro, study the material, then drill it through Quick Fire, Matchup, Sequence, Flashcards, and the Mix capstone. Each step opens to the next; no choices to make in the middle of the work.
What if · take it further ▸
Sit with this
- What's your own Lodge's charter date? Most New Mexico Lodges have a date worth knowing by heart, and many have a published founding story almost as specific as the Grand Lodge's.
- Visit a Lodge in your district that isn't your own. Notice what differs and what is the same. The Grand Lodge of New Mexico is the source of both.
Connect to
- Origins and Lineage
Origins and lineage. The broad sweep that ends at this state.
- Grand Lodge and Subordinate Lodge
Grand Lodge and Subordinate Lodge. The structure the Grand Lodge of New Mexico sits at the top of.
- Three Centuries of the Craft
Three centuries timeline. 1877 is one of the eight dates on the published timeline; here is where you stand on it.