Mount Hope Lodge No. 121, A. F. & A. M.

Oldest Masonic Lodge in Tyler County in continuous existence under original charter; founded at a site (2 mi. N) on oldest land grant in county, issued on March 17, 1834, to Gavino Araujo by state of Coahuila and Texas. On Oct. 13, 1852, James and Samuel Barnes, John I. Davis, William Sterling, and G. B. Wallace, trustees of Mount Hope Chapel, acquired building site there for a free Protestant church, schoolhouse, and lodge hall. Lodge was organized by H. W. Carter, Benjamin Enloe, William Harrison, Jefferson Laird, William L. Mann, William Priest, William P. Sansom, Israel Sneed, Henry West, and H. A. Willson. Samuel H. Barnes, G. W. Payne, and J. W. Rotan were initiated under dispensation. The charter was granted on Jan. 23, 1853. After town of Chester was founded on the same old land grant, the lodge moved here, dedicating its new hall on March 4, 1892. Samuel Bronson Cooper (soon to be a U. S. Congressman) and lumber magnate John Henry Kirby -- both from this county -- were program speakers. The centennial anniversary of Mount Hope Lodge was celebrated May 23, 1953, with Texas Governor Allan Shivers -- also a Tyler countian -- making an address. Judge J. E. Wheat of Woodville gave the lodge history. Later generations continue works of the founders.

Mount Hope Lodge No. 121, A. F. & A. M. is a historical marker in Chester, Tyler County, dedicated in 1973. It is one of 29 historical markers documented in Tyler County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 138 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.9267, -94.5985 near Chester. The nearest cataloged historic site is Old Mount Zion (cemetery), about 0.7 miles away. Others within a short drive include Sterling, Burch-Cauble, and Mount Hope.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5457011450. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.