Zion Lodge No. 1 of Free and Accepted Masons (F. & A.M.), commonly known as Zion No. 1, is a 501c10Free and Accepted Masons of Michigan - 1 Zion; EIN 23-7511626. Cause IQ, 2025. Available: https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/free-and-accepted-masons-of-michigan-1-zion,237511626/ Masonic lodge, or Blue Lodge, operating as a Fraternal Society, or Fraternal Beneficiary Societies and Voluntary Employees Associations (Y40), under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Michigan. As a Blue Lodge, or a Craft Lodge or Symbolic Lodge, Zion No. 1 confers the three degrees of Freemasonry, specifically: Entered Apprentice (EA), Fellowcraft (FC), and Master Mason (MM), and provides the necessary foundation and qualification for a Master Mason to join an appendant body (e.g. Scottish Rite, York Rite, Grotto, etc.).
Freemasonry came to the Great Lakes region in the 1700s, with Zion Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Masons (F&AM) being the earliest documented Lodge west of the Allegheny Mountains. It began as Lodge No. 1 at Detroit, a Lodge attached to the British 60th Royal American Regiment of Foot in Detroit, and was warranted in Detroit on Friday April 27, 1764, by the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York.1764 : Zion Lodge Number 1, First Masonic Lodge Established in Detroit. Michigan Day by Day, 27 Apr 2018. Available: https://harris23.msu.domains/event/1764-zion-lodge-number-1-first-masonic-lodge-established-in-detroit/
Over its history the lodge has met in many different locations, from a rustic fort blockhouse (1764), to the private residences of Worshipful Master James DonaldsonRoberts, Julia. In Mixed Company Taverns and Public Life in Upper Canada. UBC Press, 2009. Available: https://www.ubcpress.ca/asset/9411/1/9780774815758.pdf; and Roberts, Julia. Women, Men, and Taverns in Tavern-Keeper Ely Playter’s Journal. 2003. Available: https://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/view/4409/3607 (1794), Bro. James McDonnell (1802),Ashlar (Vol. 2), 1857; p. 77. or Bro. John Palmer (1807),One Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary: Zion Lodge No. 1 F. & A. M. 1764–1914. Chartered April 27, 1764. [Detroit?, 1914]; p. 17. Available: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015024478466&seq=1 and then to Detroit's first purpose built Masonic building (1896) located at First St. and Lafayette Blvd. in Detroit.Austin, Dan. Masonic Temple (old). HistoricDetroit.org, 2024. Available: https://historicdetroit.org/buildings/masonic-temple-old Since 1926, the Regular Communication meetings are held on the 1st Wednesday Monthly at 7:00 PM (except when dark during July and August),Great Lakes Masonic Conclave Historical Souvenir 1764–2014. Detroit : Zion Lodge No.1 F. & A.M., 2014; p. 52. in the Greek Ionic Lodge room, located on the 5th floor Center (5C) of the Ritual Tower in the Detroit Masonic Temple, the world's largest Masonic Temple,Alex Lundberg, Greg Kowalski: Detroit's Masonic Temple, Arcadia Pub., 2006. at 210 feet tall, 1,037 rooms, and 550,000 sq. feet. Zion Lodge No. 1 has called the Greek Ionic Lodge room, and the Detroit Masonic Temple, home since the temple first opened in 1926. Simply put, “Wednesday Night is Lodge Night,” a truism coined by W. Bro. Bert Brayman (1926-2011) as Wednesday is a night for meetings, perform rituals to confer degrees, or for fellowship at social events or for masonic education at light nights.
Zion Lodge No. 1 as an organization is older than the United States of America (1776), State of Michigan (1837), or Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Michigan (1826) that Zion helped to form. As of 2024, Zion Lodge No. 1 founded in 1764 is the second oldest extant institution operating in the City of Detroit (with Detroit founded July 24, 1701),#FlashbackFriday to our original warrant from 1764. Zion Lodge No. 1 F & AM. Facebook, 22 Apr 2022. Available: https://m.facebook.com/Zion-Lodge-No-1-F-AM-206315929417680/photos/4857537724295454/?locale=ms_MY after Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit established on July 26, 1701, which itself is the second oldest continuously operating Roman Catholic parish in America.Parish History: The History of the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit. Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit, 2024. Available: https://ste-anne.org/about-us/parish-history/
History Zion Lodge No. 1 F&AM is the earliest documented Masonic Lodge west of the Allegheny Mountains that was first warranted as ‘Lodge No. 1 at Detroit’ on Friday, April 27, 1764, by George Harison, Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, with Lt. John Christie (1740–1782) of the 2nd Battalion, 60th Royal American Foot Regiment as its first Worshipful Master, Sampson Fleming (1757–1791) Commissary of 60th Regiment as Senior Warden, Josias Harper surgeon's mate with the 80th regiment as Junior Warden. Lodge No. 1 at Detroit (later Zion Lodge) held its first meeting "in a blockhouse of Fort Pontchartrain with a gathering of a few civilians and members of the 60th Royal American Foot Regiment."It's 200th Year in State for Masons. Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Mich.), 26 Apr 1964, p. 12A, col. 2. Whether Wardens Fleming and Harper "were soldiers or citizens is not indicated" specifically in the 1764 warrant itself, nor does the warrant contain other language "that gives the lodge, or indicates that it had, a military character." However, "none but 'military men of rank' [were] permitted by English regulations, to be members or officers of a 'military lodge.' "Masonic Temple. Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Mich.), 22 Jan 1893, p. 12, col. 4.
It has been presented by Masonic historians, like RWM Richard H. Sands in Beyond the Northeast Corner (1998), that ‘Lodge No. 1 at Detroit’ had been renamed ‘Union Lodge No. 1’ sometime in the 1760s, possibly shortly after Lt. Christie relocated from Detroit to Albany, NY, in 1765, where he resided until 1767, but prior to Samuel Fleming’s term serving as Worshipful Master in 1767.A Brief History of the Grand Lodge of Michigan. Genesee Lodge No. 174 F. & A. M., 2025. Available: https://www.genesee174.org/about.html At that time Union Lodge No. 1 appears to have operated more as 'local lodge' than a traditional ‘military lodge,’ with a combined military and civilian membership. However, the lodge’s organizational records and documentation between 1764–94, aside from the original 1764 Warrant, are extremely limited and rare, confined to personal correspondence, or other types of unconnected documents, records, or artifacts.
Thirty years later, Zion Lodge No. 10 (now No. 1) was Chartered in 1794 for work in Detroit.http://www.michiganmasons.org/cms/index.taf?_function=History%20of%20Masonry History of Freemasonry It was in this year that "the Detroit Masons first adopted the name Zion Lodge."1764 : Zion Lodge Number 1, First Masonic Lodge Established in Detroit. Michigan Day by Day, 27 Apr 2018. Available: https://harris23.msu.domains/event/1764-zion-lodge-number-1-first-masonic-lodge-established-in-detroit/ The next two short-lived lodges established in the territory were also Military Lodges, Harmony Lodge in Detroit (1764-1766) associated with the British 60th Regiment, and St. John's Lodge No. 15 on Mackinac Island (1782-1813) associated with the British 84th Regiment.
The British military surrendered Fort Pontchartrain in July 1796 after the signing of the Jay Treaty. The original Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit was destroyed by fire, along with most of Detroit, in the Great Fire of July 1805. It is possible that this massive fire may also have been responsible for the destruction of Zion Lodge’s early records and documentation.
As the first Masonic lodge in the region, Zion Lodge No. 1 drew its membership from across the region at a time when “many of the members of Zion Lodge prior to 1796 had resided in what is now the Canadian side of the [Detroit] River,” including WM James DonaldsonFormer Sergeant in British 8th Regiment, stationed at Mackinac between 1780-1782, and resided in Detroit working as an innkeeper in 1795. Askin, John. John Askin Papers Section V: Letters and Papers, 1787-1789. Vol. 1, 1931; p. 305. Available: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.aay8775.0001.001&seq=9 and Bro. Joseph Rowe residing in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada.Robertson, John Ross. The History of Freemasonry in Canada from its Introduction in 1749. Compiled and Written from Official Records and from MSS. covering the Period 1749-1858, in the Possession of the Author. Vol. 1. Hunter, Rose, Toronto, 1899; p. 815. Available: https://books.google.com/books?id=aCEgQedbOv0C&pg=PA815 As the population grew in the territory and Master Masons proliferated, Zion Lodge No. 1 and its membership “sponsored and supported [other Master Masons in their desire to create] additional Lodges in Upper Canada and Michigan."Freemasonry in Michigan. East Lansing Lodge No. 480, F&AM, 2022. Available: https://www.eastlansinglodge480.com/freemasonry-in-michigan In Upper Canada “Zion Lodge mothered Lodges at River La Tranche and Amherstburgh.”Sands, Richard H. Beyond the Northeast Corner: A Brief History of Freemasonry in Michigan – Early Michigan Masonry. Chapter III. Zion Lodge No. 10 (Now No. 1). Available: http://www.themasonictrowel.com/books/sands_beyond_the_northeast_corner/files/chapter_3.htm In Lower Canada, Zion Lodge “encouraged the establishment of a Royal Arch Chapter, Monroe Chapter No. 1, R.A.M. which was organized April 21, 1818.”Sands, Richard H. Beyond the Northeast Corner: A Brief History of Freemasonry in Michigan – Early Michigan Masonry. Chapter III. Zion Lodge No. 10 (Now No. 1). Available: http://www.themasonictrowel.com/books/sands_beyond_the_northeast_corner/files/chapter_3.htm "In addition [Zion Lodge] supported the founding of other Blue Lodges, including "Detroit Lodge No. 337 (now No. 2), Oakland Lodge No. 343 in Pontiac, Menomonie Lodge No. 374 in Green Bay (then a part of the Territory) and Monroe Lodge No. 375 in Monroe."Freemasonry in Michigan. East Lansing Lodge No. 480, F&AM, 2022. Available: https://www.eastlansinglodge480.com/freemasonry-in-michigan
In September 1817 "the University of Michigan was assisted in its formation by Zion Lodge and its members"Grand Lodge of the Month for August 2017. George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, Inc. (GWMNMA), 01 Aug 2017. Available: https://gwmemorial.org/blogs/gl-of-the-month/grand-lodge-of-michigan that provided financial support for the newly created university, an action championed by Judge Augustus B. Woodward, Reverend John Monteith, and Father Gabriel Richard.Wesley Berry. Mysterious Freemason Celebrates 250th Anniversary in Michigan. PR Newswire, 07 Apr 2014. Available: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mysterious-freemason-celebrates-250th-anniversary-in-michigan-254266941.html On 15 Sep 1817, Zion Lodge met and subscribed the sum of $250 ($5,905 adjusted value in 2024) in aid of the University of Michigan,Castilla, Rafael E. and Hodgeson, William P. The Evolution of Investing at the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2017. Available: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/maize/mpub9496949/1:5/--evolution-of-investing-at-the-university-of-michigan?rgn=div1;view=fulltext payable in the sum of $50 per year. Of the total amount subscribed to start the university, two-thirds came from Zion Lodge and its members.http://vpcomm.umich.edu/aboutum/ About-U-M: Home