The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-16
ONE HUNDRED YEARS DIN
CITY EXCHANGE NEARING ITS cFx
TENNIAL.

Anniversary June 1.-The Corn
stone Laid with Masonic Cereno
mics June 4, 1730-Hon. s. G. NJ
Tendon Suggests a Civic and Ma
sonic Celebration in Commence.
tiOn of the One Hundredth Ami
VeFsary, to Which the PeOpIe a,
the state Generally Shall he In
vited-Prominent MasOns Indor,.
the Idea.
Few people are probably aware of the
fact that the present city exchange I.
nearly its Tooth anniversary, yet such E,
the fact. June A. 1885, will round out it,
century. History and tradition both Re.
cord the fact.
1t was left to a nonresident of Savan.
nah to call attention 20 the fact that tba
hundredth birthday of the old EXCHANGE
will so soon arrive. Hon. s. G. McLend0n
of Thomasvi.le, in a communication ia
the Morning News, suggests that tia
MasonS of Savannah celebrate the hun.
dredth anniversary of the laying of the
cornerstone of the exchange. as this was
done with Masonic honors, and that tina
occasion be made one for a general ragy
of the Masons of the state in the birth.
place of Georgia Masonry Col. McIen.
don also brings up some interesting Ma.
sonic history. The following is an ex.
tract from his communication:
"On the 4th day of June 1899. the corner
stone of the city exchange in Savannah
was laid, of course, with Masonic honors
On the 4th of the coming June that build.
ing will have reached it's century mark
lt has occurred to me that Savannah
might make this the occasion for inviting
her sister cities to help her celebrate her
one-hundredth anniversary as. a house
hold. L believe the oldest Masonic lodge
in Georgia is in Savannah, and / believe
this lodge for many years was repudated
by the grand lodge of the state on account
of the up-country and low-country feeling
of rivalry between Milledgeville and sa-
vannah, as the proper places for the an
uual meetings of the grand lodge | be-
lieve 1T was only in 1889, or somewhers
along about that time, that all the ancient
differences between the Masons of the up-
country and the iow-country were finally
wiped out, and 1 write you a line simply TO
call these matters to your attention, with
the thought that Savannah might If her
attention were called to it, get up quite
an interesting celebration for the 4th of
June"
Col. McLendon is only partially correct
in his reference TO Masonic history in
Georgia and the differences between the
up country and the low country Masons
Solomons Lodge No. l is not only the old
est Masonic lodge in the state, having
been organized in 1885. but is claimed to
be the Oldest Masonic lodge in the United
States. There are two other lodges which
contest this claim, but they have not had
the connected and unbroken history which
Solomons lodge has had.
Soomons lodge, being the Oldest in the
state and receiving its charter direct from
the grand lodge of England claimed also
to be the grand lodge of Georgia, and
asserted this claim for some time The
lodges in the upper portion of the state
were not inclined to acknowledge this
claim, and state grand lodge was Or
ganized which did not recognize Solomons
lodge. Later all differences between Sol
onions lodge and the grand lodge of the
state were reconciled and Solomons lodge
now stands No. 1 upon the list of the
lodges of the state. There is another No.
l, however, Social lodge of Augusta, the
second Oldest lodge in the state, also maxi
ing use of this number, which was grant
ed to it by the state grand lodge while
Solomons lodge was out of the fold
This has nothing to do, however, with
Col. McLendon'S suggestion for a Ma
sonic and civic celebration in Savannah
IN honor of the hundredth anniversary
of the laying of the corner stone of the
city exchange AS the corner stone was
laid with Masonic ceremonies, the Masons
would naturally be expected to take the
leading part in the celebration.
Several prominent Masons who were
seen endorsed the idea strongly. ut is
capitaf suggestion" said DR.. R. ]. Num-,
past grand commander of the knights
Templar of Georgia. Il do not know any
thing that would please me better and the
celebration should be made worthy of the
occasion. Let Savannah call in her neigh
bors to help her celebrate the progress
which she has made in the last hundred
years"
Eminent Commander ]. R. Saussy, Of
Palestine Commandery,' said that the sug-
gestion met with his hearty approval II
have no doubt that Masons would be glad
to take part in such celebration he said.
Mr.. e. A. Cults, deputy grand master
for the First district of Georgia, gave the
suggestion his hearty Endorsement The
Masons of Savannah doubtless laid corner
stones here before that of the city ex-
change and have undoubtedly faid many
since" said Mr.. Cults. Laying corner
stones Is in their line. you see, It may
be, that the laying of the corner stone Of
the city exchange was the first public
event of the kind in which the Masons Of
savannah participated, and it Is more than
likely that Solomon's Lodge performed the
ceremony. Masonry is strong in Savannah
and L have no doubt that all the lodges
here would be glad to participate in an &C.
casion recalling this event"
Mr.. Cuts said that II hardly seemed pos.
sible that the exchange was nearing Its
hundredth year, and there are doubtless
many others in Savannah who had no idea
that the building is so venerable. Yet the
facts are on record, and they not only
fix the time, but explain how the building
got It's name. The building was erected in
1893 at cost of $4,000. 1t was built by
a stock company, and was intended for a
merchants exchange, the site being leased
for ninety-nine years. The city was a
stakeholder in the company, and by sue
cessive purchases Of stock It became in
1872 the possessor of the property, which
was converted into city hall. The name
of exchange chung to ii, however, and ex"
change 1t has remained until this day.
-s-4p-s---
INDIANIANs WON THE GAME.