A Very Brief History of Mizpah Lodge, Faith Lodge, and Charity Lodge

During the civil war and post war time, freemasonry as well as other fraternal organizations experienced a considerable growth in membership, which was the first of such growth spurts that the fraternities such as Freemasonry experienced. It was a time that brother fought brother, families, states and the nation as a whole was torn apart. In a time of division, fraternities brought a much needed sense of unity to a person’s life.  This era brought about the formation of fraternal organizations like the Order of Red Men, Knights of Pythias, and many more. It would not be uncommon during these 40 years to see 100 men a year joining a lodge.  In 1920, one-quarter of all lodges were instituted between 1860 and 1870.

Mizpah Lodge
In our case, Amicable Lodge in Cambridgeport experienced such rapid growth that the lodge was having difficulty dealing with both the number of members and the revenue issues that surrounded it.  Most of the men who lived in the area sought to join the lodge and it would not be uncommon to have 150 members present at any given meeting, not to mention ministers.  The smaller lodge halls presented a problem for housing the fraternities needs.

In 1866, Some of the members of Amicable Lodge formed a new lodge in Cambridgeport, calling it Mizpah.  It was the hope of all involved that this would relieve some of the stress on Amicable.  Mizpah Lodge met at the Masonic Hall on Massachusetts Avenue, the present site of the Cambridge Port Savings Bank building which still stands.

Faith Lodge
Two years later (1868),  in Charlestown, the next city over, Henry Price and King Solomon Lodges were also having problems with too many members.  Some of the members of those two lodges formed Faith Lodge, which met at the Thompson Square Hall, which still stands today.

Charity Lodge
In 1869 members from the Masonic lodges in Cambridge, Arlington or at that time west Cambridge (Arlington became a town in 1869) and Somerville joined together to form Charity Lodge which met at the old post office just down the street on Mass. Ave. in Porter Square. Charity Lodge with her age is the only true North Cambridge lodge, since her birth she has stayed within two blocks of our present location.

Cambridge Masonic Hall 1919

The Mergers
At the beginning of the 20th Century, the various lodges consolidated resources and built a Masonic Hall under the direction of a Masonic Hall Association.  Each of the member lodges contribute delegates to run the jointly owned building.

While fraternities experienced growth surges, they also experience times when membership declines.  In June 23, 1981 Mizpah and Faith Lodges, two of the members of the hall association merged.  Mergers are directed and approved by the Grand Master of Massachusetts, who at the time was the M.W. Phillip J. Berquest.

Just under 30 years later, Mizpah and Faith Lodge decide to merge with Charity Lodge.  While masonic tradition dictates that the new law operates under the charter of the oldest lodge (Mizpah), the members of the merging lodge desired to keep the name Charity, as it is the highest virtue of Freemasonry.  The merger was completed in 2007 by M.W. Jeffrey B. Hodgdon.

Since this merger Charity Lodge has seen stronger participation from members and has experience growth.  With a dedication to the fundamentals of Freemasonry, the members of Charity Lodge are not only great brothers, but also important friends to the community.

Wor. Keith MacKinnon
2008