Freemasons come to Kentucky

On October 15, 1800; representatives of five subordinate lodges in Kentucky assembled in the Masonic Hall in Lexington Kentucky and established the Grand Lodge of Kentucky with William Murray as first Grand Master. The pioneer lodges consisted of Lexington Lodge No. 1, Paris Lodge No. 2, Georgetown Lodge No. 3, Hiram Lodge (Frankfort) No. 4, and Solomon's Lodge (Shelbyville) No. 5. Today there are over 1,000 lodges operating under charters issued by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky.

The early Masons that assembled here in Somerset formed a chartered lodge named Pulaski Lodge. The original lodge was chartered on September 1, 1840. This lodge was combinded with Curd Lodge # 175 on September 1, 1853. After which, the name changed to Somerset Lodge #111. The early Masons recogized the need for education for area children and took a forward thinking role in the development of a local school. After several land grants and other funds were exhausted, Somerset #111 erected a school in 1866 to replace the previous school known as Somerset Academy. The Lodge built a three story brick building. The Lodge meet on the third floor and classes met on the first two. The lodge remained on this site until the late 1890s.

Somerset Masonic Lodge #111 dedicated the building in 1867 with a party and dance that lasted two nights and the school was designated a "Masonic College". Somerset High School currently stands on the Masonic College site and the physical address is 305 College Street. As you might guess, College Street was named after the Masonic College and the current school colors are purple and gold. The land was deeded to the Somerset Board of Trustees by Somerset Lodge in 1889.

The Masonic Lodge was relocated to Public Square and erected a three story Victorian Romanesque style building. This building was constructed on the former site of the National Hotel. The building displayed large round arches with rusticated stone arching and brick corbelling. At the roofline of the building, was originally a corner tower, which was removed in the 1950's. The building now contains commercial offices and the Somerset Masonic Bodies meeting hall.

Prior to 1890, the National Hotel stood on the north side of the square where the Masonic building now exists. The hotel was previously called the Somerset House and afterwards the Huskinson. Among the last who ran it as a hotel were Joe Huskinson and a man named Pittman who came to Somerset from Laurel County. It was originally owned by Jack Griffin. After it ceased to be a hotel, it was rented out as a rooming house and the one room was rented for a printed newspaper office while the other front rooms were law offices. It became considerably dilapidated and the grounds were sold to the Masons who erected the present building on it.

The Masons purchased a portion of the property on March 21, 1889. The Masons executed a deed between themselves and C.B. Owens, J.M. Richardson, Lucy G. Richardson, S.W. Hicks, and Sally D. Hicks. The Royal Arch Chapter 25 was also included in the deed. A second portion of the .....more