Stockton
Valley
- 1904 -
Tuleburg,
California was founded in 1841 as a land development
plan. After gold was discovered nearby in 1848, the town incorporated
and changed its name to Stockton. A Charter was issued to San Joaquin
Lodge No. 19 on May 5, 1852 and two years later a second Lodge,
Morning Star No. 68, was chartered. By the year 1900 the combined
membership of the two lodges was 274 and Masonry continued to grow.
It was thought to be time for a Scottish Rite in Stockton and
the Hartley Lodge of Perfection was organized in 1869. However, after
21 years with no meetings and only 11 members, the Charter was revoked
in 1891. In May, 1904, a group of Master Masons, some of them Scottish
Rite brothers, met at the old Masonic Hall on El Dorado and Channel
Streets to organize and charter Stockton Lodge of Perfection No. 2.
The Albert Pike Chapter of Rose Croix No. 9 was instituted on January
31, 1906 and the W. Frank Pierce Council of Kadosh No. 9 were on April
1, 1911.
By the year 1910 the membership of the Bodies was 256. With no
Consistory, the Stockton brethren had to travel to Oakland or San
Francisco to receive the Consistory degrees. On November 1, 1922,
Stockton Consistory was duly constituted. The Bodies continued to grow
and at the end of 1930 records show a membership of 731. During the
Great Depression the membership held up well, with 656 in 1945. In the
next two decades it had recovered to 2,523 in 1955.
The Building Committee, for the third time, searched for a suitable
site to erect a new Temple. On Saturday, April 12 1960, the Stockton
Scottish Rite Temple at 33 Alpine Avenue was dedicated. The Lodge Room
seats 820 and the banquet room seats 800. The building contains all
the necessary rooms and equipment to confer all the degrees. (1)
Bibliography Sources
My
thanks to all those, names and nameless,
who helped me amass the materials used in compiling
this history of the Orient of California.
Ill:. Robert D. Haas 33°