First meetings at Albert and Water St. (at Black Knights of Ireland Lodge)

Cost of hydro in 1904 $15.00/year

New Lodge (Presbyterian Church) $ 825 in 1928 borrowed from Henry Tocher

1953 Order of the Eastern Star rent the basement for $ 50/year

1954 Municipal taxes $96.75 /year

Freemasonry

This is a fraternal organization which traces it origins back to the local fraternities of stonemasons. They regulated the qualifications of masons and their interactions with different authorities and clients. The different degrees of freemasonry included the three grades of the medieval craft guilds. The three levels were apprentice, journeyman and master mason.

Members of the mason lodge move through a series of levels or degrees of achievement as they participate in lodge activities.
The mason work quietly behind the scenes and support many local organizations in the community.

The symbol below is the mason compass and square.

This Masonic Lodge was once the Presbyterian Church in Sunderland. It was built in 1876 on Main Street which has been renamed Albert Street. The original log church was located in the Sunderland Cemetery just up highway #12 on the east side of the road. The pictures show photos of the church about 1912. The first picture (1) is looking from the south to the north and the church is the second building on the right. At the corner is the CIBC Bank which at that time was the Standard Bank. The second photo (2) is at River Street looking south and the church with the high wooden steeple is the second building on the left. There was a fire in 1913 at the building north of the church and the wooden steeple was damaged. During the fire, water had to be pumped up in hoses from the river east of town so very often buildings quickly burned to the ground. In 1924 the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches join to form the United Church, and this building was sold to the Masons of the King Edward Lodge in 1929.

The Sunderland Presbyterian Church about 1913 (now the Sunderland Masonic Lodge). Across the street (Main Street now Albert) is the home and 1913 Model T Ford of Dr. Robert K. Bryant and his wife Elizabeth Ann Adams. On March 5, 1913, there was a fire in the Calhoun Block immediately to the north of the church. The church roof and tower were damaged while the Calhoun block was completely destroyed. Sunderland essentially had no real fire protection until about 1950 when it got a modern fire truck. Until then water was pumped up from the Beaver River as far as the CIBC Bank.

King Edward Lodge No 464 printable

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The Sunderland Presbyterian Church – 5 Albert St

King Edwards Lodge A.F. & A.M. No. 464 G.R.C

The street itself was originally known as Main Street and was later renamed Albert Street, a change that can sometimes cause confusion when locating buildings in early records.

By 1910, fire insurance maps show the Presbyterian church with an imposing tower consisting of a 30-foot block section topped by a 15-foot wooden spire.

In 1913, fire destroyed the Calhoun Block immediately north of the church. The blaze also damaged the roof and tower of the Presbyterian church, although the building itself survived.

A major change came in 1925 with the formation of the United Church of Canada. Sunderland’s Presbyterian congregation joined with the local Methodist congregation, and worship services were subsequently held at St. Andrews United Church on Church Street North. The united congregation used the former Presbyterian manse, located at the corner of Albert Street North and Doble Street.

Among the Sunderland families associated with and supporting the Presbyterian church were the Weddells, Pattersons, Tokers, Glendennings, Wallaces, Gillespies and Charters.

With the church no longer required for regular worship, the building was sold in 1928 to King Edward Lodge No. 464 of Sunderland. The former church was renovated for its new purpose and officially dedicated as a Masonic lodge in 1929.

The building thus began a second chapter in its history, serving for generations as the home of King Edward Lodge and associated Masonic organizations.

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