A Brief History of Dyment Lodge No. 442

Keystone Lodge No.412 in Sault Ste. Marie spon­sored a peti­tion to cre­ate a Masonic Lodge in the Town of Thessalon.  In 1897, the request was approved and the Lodge became a real­ity.  Dyment Lodge No. 442 was insti­tuted in January of that year.  In January of 1997, it cel­e­brated its 100′ anniver­sary and became ” Gold “. The first Worshipful Master of the Lodge was Worshipful Brother W.L. Nichols.  He was a Past Master of Keystone Lodge. There were 17 char­ter members.

The path of Masonry in the Town of Thessalon proved to be a dif­fi­cult one. The brethren suf­fered three major fires within the first 75 years. The first one occurred in 1910. Damage was rel­a­tively minor and most of the lodge mate­ri­als were res­cued. The sec­ond fire occurred in the fall of 1916.  This fire proved to be far more severe and every­thing was lost. The brethren pre­vailed and tried once more only to have a dev­as­tat­ing fire occur in May of 1963. The only items saved were two black­ened ash­lars and the minute books, which were, thank­fully, not in the lodge room at the time.  The mem­bers endured and built their own lodge build­ing on the main street of Thessalon.  The build­ing was opened in October of 1963.  It is the lodge build­ing presently being used.

Dyment Lodge has endured these major fires over the years. They con­tin­u­ance of the Lodge is a memo­r­ial to the tenac­ity of its mem­bers and the desire to keep Masonry in the area. In addi­tion to these prob­lems, Dyment Lodge has endured many busi­ness clos­ings, down­turns in the econ­omy and the ever-present move­ment of young peo­ple to the larger urban centers.

Today it boasts a mem­ber­ship of approx­i­mately 130 Masons.  It is con­sid­ered a very strong and grow­ing Lodge in the Algoma East District. Members come from the Town of Thessalon and as far west as St. Joseph Island.  They also come from the east close to the Village of Iron Bridge.

If you wish to know more about Dyment Lodge, please con­tact either the Worshipful Master or the Secretary.  You can access either of them from this site.

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