Catawba Valley Masonic Lodge #217 (34th Masonic District) is located at 220 Collett Street in Morganton NC and proudly reports a membership of over 200 men.  Lodge beginnings are humble, having first been chartered by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina as "Rising Sun Lodge No. 38" on December 19, 1799 and consisting of only eight members.  The lodge was renamed "Rising Sun Lodge No. 100" in 1829, but was dropped from the rolls of the Grand Lodge in 1846.  The lodge received a new charter as "Catawba Valley Lodge No. 100" in December 1851, but this name is missing from the Grand Lodge list of subordinate lodges of 1859.  Catawba Valley Lodge No. 217 received its current charter from the Grand Lodge of North Carolina on December 7, 1860 and has remained active since.  Stated Communications are still held on the second Thursday of each month, just as they were in the 1860s when meeting occurred "on the Thursday evening nearest the full moon."  An evening meal is available at 6pm prior to each Stated and Emergent Communication, and lodge opens at 7pm unless otherwise announced.

The current lodge hall cornerstone was laid on Wednesday June 21, 1961, being declared by Most Worshipful Grand Master James Brewer to be "plumb, fair, and true", and its first Stated Communication was held on Thursday December 1961.   A note-burning ceremony was held August 16, 1969, only eight years after conostruction began.  As do all NC Masonic lodges, Catawba Valley 217 actively supports the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford (MHCO), Whitestone Retirement Community in Greensboro, and other statewide and local charities.  

If you are a "good man" seeking ways to be better for your family, community and yourself (and probably make a few lifelong friends in the process), please talk to a Freemason you know, or visit the NC Grand Lodge at https://www.grandlodge-nc.org/ 

2B1A1 (To Be One, Ask One)