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The Carson Valley 33 Story
The Carson Valley 33 Story
The Masons of the Carson Valley (Minden and Gardnerville, south of Carson City), which began as a community in about 1885, began to speak of forming a Masonic Lodge in the area early in 1914, and their efforts resulted in the authority to organize the lodge was granted, and a dispensation was issued on March 14, 1914, with the chartering of Carson Valley Lodge #33 taking place on the 10th of June of that year.
The first meetings were held in the Odd Fellows Hall (as were many of the early lodges in Nevada), and the Lodge flourished - nearly doubling in membership in its first year!
In 1921, the Lodge built the edifice pictured below, with commercial space on the ground floor and Lodge rooms above, according to tradition.
However, "fate reared its ugly head", and with the economic decline in 1932 (part of the Great Depression), the membership of the Lodge had declined to the point where they could no longer meet their obligations and the property fell into foreclosure. With the debt and responsibility for the building no longer hanging heavily around the neck of the Lodge, the Lodge rebounded and flourished, and arrangements were made with the new owners of the building to allow the Lodge to rent the space and continue to meet in the upper chambers - as they do today. Finally, in 2003, the members of Carson Valley Lodge # 33 repurchased the building and now own it.
Carson Valley Lodge #33 meets in this proud building - their door is at the lower right of this picture (with the square and compasses above the door). This building sits on the east side of U.S. Highway 395 (1419 HWY 395) in downtown Gardnerville, NV.
The cornerstone of Carson Valley Lodge #33 was laid by the Grand Lodge of Nevada in 1919. There is a long series of steps that work their way up to the the Lodge on the second story of this old building. The steps have been custom built to remind every Mason of certain teachings that are instrumental in all Masonic lodges. A portion of the stairway can be seen below.
We normally have a small dinner (or a bite to eat) before our Lodge meetings. We get together about an hour prior to our Stated Meeting (see time and date of meeting above). If you would like to join us to ask questions about the fraternity, please feel free to "drop in on us". Stop by, introduce yourself, and then feel free to ask your questions. We'll answer as many as we can.
The door is always open to all good men.
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