Old photo, Masonic Lodge, Hornitos, California. Circa 1910s – 1920s.

Price:  $12.00            Size:  4 and 1/2 x 2 and 3/4″

Located in the “almost ghost town” of Hornitos, Mariposa County, California…..

This building is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the smallest Masonic Hall in California. Built by Italian stonemasons from local schist rock in 1855, it enjoyed a variety of uses until it was purchased by the Freemasons in 1873, and renovated and first opened for meetings in early 1875. The “F & AM” in the Lodge’s sign, if you can read it, is a Masonic term and stands for “Free and Accepted Masons.”

The other sign (which we can’t read) to our right of the building shows a pickaxe. The Hornitos area was an important part of the California Gold Rush, so this sign may have been some type of historical marker.

Sources:  Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornitos_Masonic_Hall_No._98 (accessed September 18, 2022).

“AF and AM versus F and AM States.” masoniclodgeofeducation.com. (Accessed September 18, 2022).

“National Register of Historic Places in Mariposa County.” noehill.com. (Accessed September 18, 2022).

“Hornitos, Gold Districts of California.” http://explore.museumca.org/goldrush/dist-hornitos.html. Excerpt from: Gold Districts of California, by: W.B. Clark, California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 193, 1970.