| Pisgah Lodge #32 |
Appendix D, Meeting Locations
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PISGAH MEETING LOCATIONS
Appendix D, Page D-1
The first meeting place for Pisgah was on the second floor of the brick two-story home of
Reuben Nelson located on the southwest corner of Walnut & Maple Streets, which is part of lot
No. 146, in the Town of Corydon. The lodge continued to meet at this location until 1826 when
it moved to the second floor of the old clerk’s office on lot No. 58. It remained at this location
until it went dark in 1828.
Although the lodge owned the upper floor of that structure, it did not at first re-occupy that
space when it began to meet again in 1851.
The lodge rented a hall from the Sons of Temperance on the corner of Elm, & Chestnut
Streets from 1852 until October 1, 1853, when it began to use the Senate Chambers of the
Old Capitol Building.
It occupied those quarters until October 3, 1857, at which time it re-occupied the upper story of
the old clerks’s building which had been vacant since 1828.
That arrangement did not work out as there was always controversy over the true ownership of
the building as well as the ownership of the lot on which it was located. The lodge offered to
sell its interest to the owners of the first floor, but no agreement could be reached as to a fair
purchase price. Notwithstanding prior agreements relative to the ownership of the second
story, on April 18, 1876, an agreement was executed in which it was made clear that all right,
title, and interest in the second floor belong to Pisgah alone.
The lodge continued to occupy that space until it was destroyed by fire in 1879. During that
time, the minutes of the lodge show that maintenance was a never-ending problem for those
quarters, and the lodge made a number of attempts to find a new home.
As an example of the poor condition of the building and the cost of remodeling it, the minutes
of the lodge dated August 15, 1876, authorized the Worshipful Master, Senior Warden, and
Junior Warden to mortgage any and all lodge property necessary in order to raise $300 to
finance much needed repairs.
After a devastating fire, the lodge occupied the upper floor of the building owned by the heirs
of Leonard Keller (now the Griffin Mall) until the lodge’s new hall was ready for occupancy and
dedicated by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana on November 15, 1881.
By an agreement dated May 14, 1880, and recorded in Deed Record “J” No. 3, Pages 48-49-
50 and 51, the lodge and Brother & Dr. John Lawson entered into an agreement whereby
Brother Lawson would construct a brick building on lot No. 58 up to and including the floor
joists
Appendix D, Page D-2
for a second story, and that Pisgah would erect the remainder of the building. Other
conditions applied to this agreement and they can be found in more detail in the above-
mentioned document. Some of the more important points of the agreement gave each party
title to its respective floors and gave each party the right of first refusal if the other party ever
chose to sell its interest in the building. It is interesting to note that this project was financed
through the generosity of the widow of Thomas C. Slaughter, a very prominent mason and
citizen and whose profile appears in Appendix A of this chronology.
The lodge did in fact buy out the interest of Dr. Lawson by agreement dated August 5, 1919,
and by an agreement dated December 27, 1919, continued to rent the ground floor to Percy
Davis for a drug store, he at that time being an occupant of the building per an earlier
agreement with Dr. Lawson.
While the old building was of wood and was a mere 20'x30', the new building was 25'6"x65"
and was constructed of brick.
Pisgah continued to occupy that space until it sold its interest to Harry T. Hudson in 1926, and
built their present temple on Elm Street.
The new temple had been proposed for a number of years before it was built. Although there
was much interest in its construction, the building was delayed because of the economic panic
following WWI and lasting into the early 1920s. This project will be discussed in more detail in
Volume II of Pisgah’s chronology.