Hiram Lodge No. 25

By the 1780s, members of the Masonic fraternity were organized and meeting locally. On December 6, 1802, a charter was issued by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for Lodge No. 96 in Newark. This was one of four Lodges whose representatives gathered in Wilmington on June 6 and 7, 1806, to form the Grand Lodge of Delaware. At this historic session the Lodge was formally warranted as Hiram Lodge No. 3. Regular meetings were discontinued circa 1827. On June 27, 1870, Masonry was restored in this community with the granting of a charter for Hiram Lodge No. 25. Members met in the Odd Fellows Hall until 1890, when they relocated to the Wilson Building. In 1926 the desire for a larger facility resulted in a move to the Academy Building on Main Street. The present site was subsequently donated by member Norris N. Wright, and in 1950, Hiram Lodge No. 25 moved to this location.