North Hill Lodge #210 History

​Legend of the North Hill 210 "Red Bow Tie"

The North Hill 210 "Red Bow Tie" came into being some 35 years ago (1965-67) and was started by VW Brother E. Walter Palm, Past Master of North Hill Lodge No. 210, F. & A. M. Brother Walt enjoyed visiting various Lodges both near and far.
Walt was a small businessman, Welder and Ironworker by trade. His business was located on the corner of Francis Avenue and Cincinnati Street in Spokane, Washington.
Almost every morning, at his business, Brother Walt would sit down with a cup of coffee to study his ritual or tutor a brother mason in the ritualistic parts of Free Masonry. If someone came into the shop to have coffee with him, he would tell the Brother that he was tutoring to go off into another part of the shop by himself and study what they had just covered. As the morning passed there would be several brothers stopping by his shop for a cup of coffee.
Most of the Brothers were very avid Masons who loved to visit other Lodges in the area, to observe their work and to invite them to return the visit. The conversation came up that they needed some method of identifying the members of North Hill 210 when they visited other Lodges. Over the months this conversation came up many times always ending as to what the form the recognition would be, it went from red socks, to red handkerchiefs, to red ties. In what order these suggestions came about no one can be sure however, suffice to say they did come up and we now wear RED BOW Ties when visiting other Lodges.
One tie is a smaller one and is somewhat lighter in color and is called the North Hill 210 visitation (or traveling tie). Another is larger and of a velvet material and is thought of as the North Hill 210 Officers tie. (It is believed that the tradition of the North Hill Officers wearing Red Bow Ties was started in 1978, before that the Officers wore a black bow tie with had Masonic red "Square and Compasses" on the bows.)
All new Brothers of North Hill Lodge No. 210 are presented a "Traveling Red Bow Tie" immediately upon receiving their First Degree. Also, Brothers that Affiliate with North Hill 210 are presented with a Red Bow Tie.
The North Hill 210 Red Bow Tie has somewhat of an international flavor. Records show that VW Brother E. Walter Palm visited Villastigen Lodge No. 4, at Kiruna, Sweden (in his Red Bow Tie) and was received by WM Harry Hallstensson on September 19, 1994. (Worshipful Brother Harry visited North Hill 210 in May and June of 1969).
The North Hill 210 "RED BOW TIE: is widely recognized in Lodges throughout the Northwest and Canada.

Masonic lodges are the center of a community. North Hill Lodge #210 is no different. Our lodge was originally chartered in the North Hill neighborhood of North Spokane, WA in 1916. We spent almost a century there until our properties were sold in 2013.We then rented space from the Masonic Temple Association at the Spokane Masonic Temple in downtown. After that property sold a year later, we met in Audubon Park Lodge #272's building until the opening of the new Downtown Spokane Masonic Center in the late summer of 2017. We then moved our charter, yet again, to the new masonic center and have been there ever since.

North Hill Lodge #210 F & A M

​A Brief History of Our Lodge by Albert M. Arnold, PM (Updates added later are credited)

Early in the second decade of the 20th century, four business and professional men with offices and stores located in the Garland District of the city of Spokane, occasionally met and had lunch together and/or an afternoon cup of coffee. All four were Masons and that alone caused their association with each other to be more than casual.

One of these Brethren, W. Bro. William H. Pattison was a Past Master of a Minnesota Lodge; a second, Bro. E. Ben Johnson, was also a Minnesota Mason. The third and fourth, Bros. Dr. Eugene Gay and William H. Duffe, were members of local lodges. At the time there were only three lodges in Spokane, all in the downtown area. They were: Spokane #34, Oriental #74, and Tyrian #96. There was a lodge in Hillyard but that was a separate town from Spokane and not a part of the city as it is today.

Another Lodge, Orchard #200, was located in the Opportunity Township in the valley and was no part of Spokane. These four Brethren of the Garland District began discussing the possibility of establishing a Lodge on the North side of Spokane in its residential district. They believed the Garland District had reached sufficient growth to support and accommodate a Lodge. Their ideas along these lines eventually led to an application for dispensation to start a new lodge. Upon advice and help from several members of Spokane Lodge #34, and Oriental Lodge #74, these four leaders obtained applications from 21 Brethren to be members of a new lodge. The minimum requirement was 15 so they made sure they had an adequate number in case one or more members decided to pull out. None did.

Spokane Lodge #34 sponsored this new lodge that was designated then as North Hill #210, F. &A.M. of Washington. The Grand Lodge of Washington granted a dispensation to operate a new lodge in 1915. Both Spokane Lodge #34 and Oriental Lodge #74 gave this new lodge several items of equipment and paraphernalia to help it get started. Several Past Masters of these Lodges also gave instructions and coaching to the officers of this new lodge to enable them to perform Lodge procedures and confer degrees. W. Bro. Robert Wilson of Oriental #74 was most prominent among these helpers, and he gave a great deal of time and effort to the new lodge. He was later to become Grand Master of Masons in Washington and thereby attained the title of "Most Worshipful."

As the time for the first organized meeting of the new Lodge approached a fifth Brother joined the original four in active efforts toward the preparation and plans for the first meeting. His name was Ruggles N Whitney. At that meeting Bro. Pattison was elected Master, Bro. Johnson became Senior Warden and Bro. Gay Junior Warden, While Bro. Whitney was appointed Senior Deacon and Bro. Duffe appointed Junior Deacon. Each of these five leaders served successively as Masters in the first five years of the existence of the Lodge. W Bro. Pattison actually the better part of two years which included that time while the lodge was under Dispensation and the six months following the granting of the Charter on June 16, 1916. Under Dispensation the Lodge was required to have a suitable meeting place and to demonstrate its skill and ability to operate the Lodge and confer the first three degrees of Masonry. One each of the three degrees was deemed sufficient to meet the degree requirement. With further help from Spokane Lodge #34 and Oriental Lodge #74, the new officers actually conferred the three degrees on nine Brethren for a total of 27 degrees during the Dispensation period. With the addition of one affiliation North Hill Lodge had a total of 31 members when it received its Charter. In addition to the nine who had been raised to membership ten more first and second degrees had been conferred during the period of Dispensation.

The Lodge continued to grow and prosper, and the membership began to hope for a more suitable meeting place than the empty loft above a Hardware Store in the 900 block of Garland Avenue with only a stove for heating (South side of Garland east of Monroe.) Some even hoped that they might even have their own Temple but that was something nobody could anticipate as a reality with the foreseeable future. About this time Bro. Eugene Gay had an opportunity to purchase two lots on Wall Street at the Northwest corner of its intersection with Garland Avenue. The owner was pressed for money and sold them to him for $600.00 cash. Bro. Gay considered it an excellent investment. Shortly thereafter some of the membership expressed that the Lodge had not had an opportunity to buy the lots for a future home. Bro. Gay decided to forego the profit he could have made on the lots by holding them for future sale and let the Lodge have them for exactly what he had paid for them $600.00. The purchase made a big dent in the Lodge bank account, but the purchase was unanimously approved. A little less than a year later a contract was let to build the Temple which today is still our home (properties were sold, ca. 2012).

The cost was $15,000.00 and financed by $10,000.00 in 15-year bonds sold to the membership and a $5,000.00 mortgage bought by the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Spokane. The building was completed in 1921, and the Lodge vacated its second story loft over the structure to Garland Avenue to the West. By frugal management and an increase in dues from $4.00 to $6.00 for which our long-term Treasurer, Bro. Earnest Edwards, was responsible, several of the bonds were paid off before maturity. By virtue of excellent growth in membership, in the fall of 1936, a special celebration was held in the Temple and the mortgage was burned, thereby removing all indebtedness against the building.

In 1924 several Brethren who lived in the Audubon Park area, which was experiencing rapid growth, began to hope for another Lodge on the North side of the city. This hope ultimately came to fruition in 1924, when a nucleus of 15 North Hill members, along with other Brethren petitioned the Grand Lodge to form a new Lodge which became Audubon Park Lodge #272 under dispensation then in 1924. It received its Charter approximately a year later in 1925. That Lodge grew rapidly also, as had North Hill Lodge.

In 1948 North Hill Lodge underwent a complete renovation including a more complete heating plant, new roof, new carpeting, insulation, and a new paint job on both floors, under the leader of its Master, the author of this history. Further renovation continued during the next few years, including metal cornice work on the exterior, a new ceiling and wood like covering on the East and West walls of the Lodge room. New Seating was installed in 1967 and new improvements continued in the passing years, including air conditioning.

** In 1970 the Lodge acquired two lots with their houses adjoining the Lodge property on the North. The house directly North of our first parking lot was renovated and rented. The second adjoining it was torn down to make badly needed parking space. W. Bro. William Bacon paved both parking lots without charge and to the great appreciation of our members and guests.

The following historical information was added by Terrence B. Sullivan P.M. former Charter building corporation Secretary.

In 1985, North Hill #210 formed a 501 c (2) building corporation for investment purposes and to protect us from lawsuit. We had originally thought to start transacting business after we received confirmation from the Secretary of State that our paperwork was filed property (it was), we however decided to wait until January 1, 1986, to start business. (Our letters of Incorporation and Charter were written by Bro. Gary Dalke and the law firm of Paine Hamblen) In that year the decision was made to rewire the Lodge both upstairs and down. This was completed for about $14,000.00. In 1988 we had to replace one of the heat pumps with an air-conditioning unit. In 1990 we acquired the final piece of property along the West side of Wall Street from Garland Avenue to Walton St. We now own the complete ½ block on the West side of Wall St. to Walton Ave. This author resigned as Building Corporation Secretary in 1991 due to other duties.

In the mid-nineties the corporation had a new subfloor and carpet laid in the Lodge room. We were also very successful in some of our investments. In 1999 we replaced another air-conditioner and replaced two furnaces. We have had on going improvements to the Lodge properties for the past few years. Charter Members of North Hill Lodge #210, F. & A. M. Total – 31 Signers on Petition for Dispensation Affiliated during Dispensation William H. Pattison, Robert Treffery, *E Ben Johnson, Eugene J. Gay, Loren B. Fairburn, Albert C. Dukelow, *Ruggles N Whitney Raised and admitted to, Harvey C. Blair Membership during Dispensation, J. Mcadory Yeamman, Charles A. Lund, Freedrick Mueller, James W. Daley, Malcom L. McKinstry, Frank C. Bashear, Albert F. Theilman, Alexander McPherson, Elmer McBride, *William H. Duffe, William A. Ingliss, Issac N Stevens, *Harry J. Fullmer, Earl G. Foltz, Harry L. Hillman, Ernst Tuttle, William H. Ferguson, Richard J. Stephens, Fred H. Jamieson, Cook Samuels, Albert H. Dennison, J. Wesley Balfour, Louis D. Rowland.