Grand Lodge of Massachusetts - Growth of The Masonic Home

Growth of The Masonic Home

As early as the 1750s, lodges were requested to contribute to a charity fund to provide relief to needy brethren. By 1811 a permanent charity fund was established with guidelines for its growth. The fund was to be managed by a board of trustees. With the need for funds to purchase the Winthrop House as a location for the Grand Lodge, the fund was depleted. This led to the formation of a more stringent Masonic Educational Charity Trust, which later became known as Masonic Education and Charity Trust. Toward the end of the 19th century, there was talk of the need for a Masonic Home for Masons and widows. Eventually a $1,000 donation from Mount Hope Lodge, Fall River, in 1904 established a fund to build a Masonic Home. Within a few years the fund grew to $48,000 through gifts and pledges. The Overlook Hotel in Charlton was purchased for $50,000 in 1908 along with 397 acres (1.61 km2) of land, and the building was dedicated for use as the Masonic Home on May 25, 1911. Through a major capital campaign, $2.3 million was raised to construct a new wing. Since 1978, the grounds have been used for the Grand Master’s Fair each June, except in 2006. With major construction that year, the Fair was moved to the Aleppo Shrine Center in Wilmington. At its peak the Fair attracted nearly 20,000 people. Just before he died in 1991, Bro. James C. Nicoll Jr. requested the trustees of his private charitable foundation to make a gift after his death to the Masonic Education and Charity Trust for whatever purpose Grand Master Edgar W. Darling deemed most critically in need of support. The $200,000 grant was used to construct a chapel at the Home. Various Masonic-related organizations have sponsored stained-glass windows for the chapel. Among the more recent changes are an expansion of the original building for an administrative wing and the conversion of an auditorium to a lodge room. Ground was broken in 2004 for the construction of apartments and cottages for independent living. The development also included a provision for an assisted living unit to provide for various levels of care as needed. Residents began to move into the new quarters in 2006.