Master Bill Russell asked that I give a brief reference to the places were the lodge has
met regularly since 1856.

1. The first known meetings were held in the Randolph County Courthouse, which
was located at the corner of Salisbury and Main Streets. I think this must have been
called Court House #6. And looked like the Coldwell Banker real estate offices but
apparently occupied the lot now used by the brick apartment building. John Betts,
Tyler, said it was his duty to build fires, light candles and ring a large bell to summon
the members at home.

2. The second location is believed to be the Hancock Hotel in the same area for a rental
fee of $5 per year.

3. Later, just prior to 1873, the lodge met over the store of a member, J.M.A. Drake,
whose story was located at the corner of Main and Worth Street where the house of
Mrs. W.A. Underwood now stands, diagonally across the intersection from the Charles
McCrary town home.

4. The store of Brother Drake was removed and Mrs. W.A. Underwood’s house was
built and meetings were held at this location - this house still stands at the original
location.

5. In 1908, a commercial building was built at 132 Sunset Ave. The US post office
occupied the first floor until 1925. Dr. Sykes was on the 2nd floor from 1931 to 1981.
The third floor was the Masonic Temple.

6.  We were meeting upstairs over the old hickory café when I came into the lodge in
1948 and as far as I can remember we met there until the new temple at 632 Sunset
Ave. was completed and opened on March 7, 1952. This was a great day for Masons
and Eastern Stars.

Let me give you a little detail of building the temple. It started back as far as February
7, 1936 when the Randolph Chapter No. 210 Order of the Eastern Star served a dinner
for the Masons in the dinning room of Central Methodist Church. From the dinner they
realized $25. This was deposited in the First National Bank as the beginning of a
‘Temple Fund’. Each year they added a few dollars to this amount. The going was not
easy. However members and friends gave willingly of their money and their work and
everybody enjoyed working together for this one good cause. The Masons borrowed
some money and we began to get some material together to begin the temple. Then the
Korean War came along and everything halted because you were not sure of getting
steel and other materials. Materials lay on the lot for a long time until times were more
stable and we finally got the building underway. It looked like it took forever because
we were anxious. I guess everyone has a big day of remembrance but I tell you the
best one for me was when we burned the note because my name was one of the
names on the note.

Another great event was the centennial celebration on Friday, December 7, 1956.

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Balfour Lodge History
Balfour Lodge #188 AF & AM
Chartered December 2, 1856 - Grand Lodge of North Carolina
Balfour Masonic Temple
632 Sunset Ave.
Asheboro, NC  27203
(336) 625-5363
info@balfourlodge.com
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Balfour Masonic
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