Helion Lodge 1

Helion Lodge Building (2006)

Helion Lodge #1 is a Masonic lodge in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the oldest operating lodge of Freemasons in the state. According to Grand Historian Joseph Abram Jackson's Masonry in Alabama, it is "the birthplace of Freemasonry in Alabama." Helion Lodge is also the common name for the building (actually named Eunomia Hall for Eunomia Chapter #5 Royal Arch Masons who financed its construction), built in 1911, where the lodge meets.

History

In 1805, a Revolutionary War veteran named John Hunt built a log cabin at the Big Spring and began what would grow to become the modern city of Huntsville, Alabama. Just six years later, on August 21, 1811, Madison Lodge #21 received its dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. In 1812, it received its official charter from the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. John Hunt was among the first members, as was LeRoy Pope, who had given the city its original name of Twickenham. On April 6, 1818, a second Lodge was formed in the county, Bethesda Lodge #2. In 1824 the two Lodges combined as Helion Lodge #1 under the Grand Lodge of Alabama.

Helion Lodge survived the dark years of the American Civil War, when Huntsville was often occupied by the invading Union Army. The quiet little town grew rapidly after World War II, when the area became host to both Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Spaceflight Center. Notable members involved in the growth of Huntsville's defense and space industry are Senator John Sparkman and Mayor Joe W. Davis. Helion Lodge soon came to have the largest membership in the state. As a result, in 1962 a new Lodge was formed in Huntsville, Solar Lodge #914. Most of the members came from Helion Lodge. Five years later, in 1967, a third Huntsville Lodge was formed, Apollo #921. Both younger Lodges consider Helion as their mother Lodge and dual membership is common.

On Wednesday night, August 30, 1922, Helion was the location of the formation of Twickenham Chapter of The Order of DeMolay; the first chapter of The Order of DeMolay in the state of Alabama.

Past Masters 1811 to present

Number	No. (Years)	Past Master	Ref.
	1811	Marmaduke Williams	Madison Lodge 21, Grand Lodge of Kentucky Dispensation
1	1812	Louis Winston	Madison Lodge 21, Grand Lodge of Kentucky Charter
	1813-1817	David R. Moore	Madison Lodge 21
1-2	1818-1820	William Atwood	Alabama Lodge 21, Grand Lodge of Tennessee Charter
	1821	Alexander Erskin	Grand Lodge of Alabama Formed
	1822	W. Thomas Wooldridge	Madison Lodge 1
	1823	W. J. Grimes	Madison Lodge 1
	1822-1823	W. A. Hutchinson	Bethesda Lodge 2
	1824	W. J. Grimes	Madison Lodge 1
	1824	Issac Williams	Bethesda Lodge 2
1	1824	Issac Williams	Consolidation of Madison Lodge #1 and Bethesda Lodge #2
2-3	1825-1826	William Feeny
4-5	1827-1828	John J. Fackler
6	1829	William Feeny
7	1830	John Acklen
8-13	1831-1836	W. A. Hutchinson
14-19	1837-1842	James Penn
20	1843	Ellison Smith
21-22	1844-1845	James Penn ,MWGM
23-24	1846-1847	J. M. Davidson
25	1848	Arch E. Mills
26	1849	J. M. Davidson
27	1850	Fred Gate
28-29	1851-1852	J. J. Sample
30	1853	J. F. Steele
31-39	1854-1862	William Gormley
40-41	1863-1864	J. E. Young
42	1865	E. B. Clapp
43-46	1866-1869	J. J. Dement
47-48	1870-1871	S. J. Mayhew
49	1872	M. C. Baldridge
50	1873	W. S. Reddick
51-52	1874-1875	Bernard F. Ludwig
53-54	1876-1877	M. C. Baldridge
55-57	1878-1880	John L. Rison
58-64	1881-1887	M. C. Baldridge
65	1888	W. C. Weaver
66-68	1889-1891	M. C. Baldridge
69-70	1892-1893	Amos B. Jones
71	1894	Thomas Taylor
72	1895	Joseph Skinner
73	1896	Alred Moore
74-76	1897-1899	W. C. Wheeler
77	1900	L. R. Wellman
78	1901	W. C. Wheeler
79-80	1902-1903	H. C. Pollard
81	1904	Augustus F. Evans
82	1905	Frank Ford
83	1906	F. P. Culver
84-85	1907-1908	Leroy Suggs
86	1909	Robert Coman Brickell
87-88	1910-1911	James Hamilton Ballentine
89	1912	H. C. Pollard
90	1913	J. W. Battle
91-93	1914-1916	J. L. Kendall
94	1917	A. F. Kendall
95	1918	G. H. Heymann
96-97	1919-1920	Alex M. Dunn
98	1921	J. B. McCord
99	1922	W. R. Laxson
100-101	1923-1924	Samuel C. Alexander
102-103	1925-1926	Sam S. Rice
104	1927	Charles. O. Rolfe
105	1928	Robert Collyer Chase Jr.
106	1929	F. J. Shick
107	1930	James D. Rice, Jr.
108-109	1931-1932	John S. McLure
110-111	1933-1934	William B. Allen
112	1935	P. S. McCormick
113	1936	Joe B. Hill
114	1937	Cowan Y. Wilson
115	1938	T. Pickens Gates
116	1939	F. Floyd Broyles
117	1940	John S. McLure
118-119	1941-1942	Henry R. Martin
120-121	1943-1944	Clyde Martz
122	1945	Abe Pizitz
123	1946	Clyde Martz
124	1947	Jasan A. Williams
125	1948	John W. Walker
126	1949	William B. Allen
127	1950	John H. McGaha
128	1951	Louie L. Baucom
129	1952	William B. Jones
130	1953	E. H. Hall
131	1954	William H. Ealy
132	1955	D. Shelby Vaughn
133	1956	Doyle W. Ealy
134	1957	William Andrew Cobb Sr.
135	1958	Dan L. Warden
136	1959	J. D. Harris
137	1960	W. L. Guthrie
138	1961	John Clark Beeler
139	1962	Wendell McKinney
140	1963	Carl Pickens
141	1964	Randolph Rush
142	1965	Robert F. Jean
143	1966	James Walter Bass
144	1967	James G. Williams
145	1968	William W. Byrd
146	1969	Charles D. Rozell
147	1970	Charles Keathley
148	1971	Emory J. Ferguson
149	1972	Marlin Hinkle
150	1973	Hubert Lemaster
151	1974	Hollis L. Sharp
152	1975	R. M. Slaughter
153	1976	Robert J. Cannon
154	1977	Fred Allen Beddingfield
155	1978	Clarence W. Landrum
156	1979	Robert Kachelhofer
157	1980	Ronald W. Thomas
158	1981	B. J. Nelson
159	1982	Alvie Lee Berry
160	1983	David Allen
161	1984	Lee D. Parker
162	1985	Johnie Wilbanks
163	1986	James Garry Smith
164	1987	James Wesley Reach
165	1988	Wayne Dee Jordan
166	1989	Clarence Morrison Albright
167	1990	Donald Douglas Beal
168	1991	David K. Hall
169	1992	Charles R. Kirch
170	1993	James Shelby Aston
171	1994	John W. Herron
172	1995	Danny B. Lamont
173	1996	E. J. Wadsworth
174	1997	Theo Starkey
175	1998	Raymond Charles Dunn
176	1999	James S. Blanteno
177	2000	George Hall
178	2001	John Pavlick
179	2002	David Milam
180	2003	Raymond Tanner
181	2004	James Henley
182	2005	Dennis Peterson
183	2006	Larry Gilliss
184	2007	Andy Thomas
185	2008	Steve McGlocklin
186	2009	Michael Feld
187	2010	Jerry Burpee
188	2011	Ed Kachelhofer
189	2012	Ken Carpenter
190	2013	David Miller
191	2014	Jared Cassidy
192	2015	George Lewis
193	2016	Dean Lilja
194	2017	John Hood
195	2018	Mike Morgan
196	2019	Doug Collinsworth
197	2020	John D. Pennington
198	2021	Thomas Jeffrey Beasley
199	2022	Benjamin James Ledford
200	2023	John Leslie Clay
201	2024	Charles Phillip Cozelos

Honorary Past Masters

Number	Year	Honorary Past Master	Ref.
		Richard Carter Storey
		Herschel Leonard Ouzts
	2024	Stephen C. Chapman

Location

Helion Lodge stands on the original site of Madison Lodge #21 at 409 Lincoln Street in the Twickenham Historic District of Huntsville. The present building is over 100 years old and was designed by a noted architect and Lodge member named Edgar Love. The cornerstone was laid in 1911.

The building was officially named Eunomia Masonic Hall after the Royal Arch Chapter, but is now simply called Helion Lodge. It is home to both Helion Lodge and the Huntsville York Rite bodies, as well as to Twickenham-Milford Order of DeMolay and to White Light Assembly #66, International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. It is the home of the oldest Lodge of Freemasons in the state of Alabama.

Awards

Helion Lodge received the Masonic Service Association of North America's Mark Twain Award for Masonic Awareness in the lodge and in the community consecutively for the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. Helion Lodge received the Twain Award again in 2012. Helion Lodge is the only four time recipient of the Twain Award for Masonic Awareness.

References

• Jackson, Joseph Abram. Masonry in Alabama: a sesquicentennial history, 1821–1971. OCLC 3931387
• Helion Lodge #1: Lodge Records, 1811-Current

External links

• Helion Lodge Webpage
• Grand Lodge of Alabama - Helion #1
• Grand Lodge of Alabama - Renaissance #933
• Apollo Lodge history