Stockton
Valley
- 1904 -

Tuleburg, California was founded in 1841
as a land development
plan. After gold was discovered nearby in 1848, the town incorporated
and changed its name to Stockton. A Charter was issued to San Joaquin
Lodge No. 19 on May 5, 1852 and two years later a second Lodge, Morning
Star No. 68, was chartered. By the year 1900 the combined membership of
the two lodges was 274 and Masonry continued to grow.
It was thought to be time for
a Scottish Rite in Stockton and the Hartley Lodge of Perfection was
organized in 1869. However, after 21 years with no meetings and only 11
members, the Charter was revoked in 1891. In May, 1904, a group of
Master Masons, some of them Scottish Rite brothers, met at the old
Masonic Hall on El Dorado and Channel Streets to organize and charter
Stockton Lodge of Perfection No. 2. The Albert Pike Chapter of Rose
Croix No. 9 was instituted on January 31, 1906 and the W. Frank Pierce
Council of Kadosh No. 9 were on April 1, 1911.
By the year 1910 the
membership of the Bodies was 256. With no Consistory, the Stockton
brethren had to travel to Oakland or San Francisco to receive the
Consistory degrees. On November 1, 1922, Stockton Consistory was duly
constituted. The Bodies continued to grow and at the end of 1930 records
show a membership of 731. During the Great Depression the membership
held up well, with 656 in 1945. In the next two decades it had recovered
to 2,523 in 1955.
The Building Committee, for the third time, searched for a suitable site
to erect a new Temple. On Saturday, April 12 1960, the Stockton Scottish
Rite Temple at 33 Alpine Avenue was dedicated. The Lodge Room seats 820
and the banquet room seats 800. The building contains all the necessary
rooms and equipment to confer all the degrees. (1)
Bibliography
Sources
My
thanks to all those, names and nameless,
who helped me amass the materials used in compiling
this history of the Orient of California.
Ill:.
Robert D. Haas 33°