In this ongoing series, we feature a piece from our Museum Director, Billie DeLancey, originally published in The Johnstown Breeze on July 24, 2025. Enjoy this look back, and keep an eye on the paper for the newest stories shaping our community.
In October 1911, Harvey J. Parish and 14 other local Masonic Brothers formed the Johnstown Fraternal Association to discuss and establish a Masonic Lodge in Johnstown.
These prominent men had been members of other area lodges in Berthoud, Windsor, Fort Lupton, and Fort Collins at a time when many lodges were being established across the Front Range and elsewhere, gaining in popularity along with new social clubs and other groups as community began to take shape in the early Twentieth Century across Colorado.
A charter was granted to Johnstown Lodge No. 140 the following September, and the Masons met in different locations downtown to start – one being the Eureka Building. In 1925, it was decided to purchase property and build a new temple on the corner of Rutherford Ave and Charlotte St.
This photo of the Masonic Temple in 2016 looks much the same as the building did when it was erected in 1925.
After some delays the cornerstone was laid on August 25, 1927, and the temple was officially dedicated on March 27, 1928. This was a signal triumph for many of the members of the lodge who generously donated their time and money to help construct the building and payoff the debts.
On November 30, 1960, the membership stood at 149, a gratifying increase from the original 14 founders whose courage pointed the way to yet another Masonic lodge.
* * * * * * *
Sources: Excerpted in part from Longmontmasons.org; A Tribute To Johnstown, Rebecca S. Healy, 1977; Weld County Clerk and Recorder