Freemason lodge in Detroit added to National Registry of Historic Places
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A Detroit lodge for what is considered the world's largest fraternity was added to the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places on Friday.
Listed Wednesday, the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge on McDougall on Detroit's east side now joins a vast list of properties across the country deemed worthy of preservation. Since 1966, the National Park Service has identified and garnered support for landmarks nationwide.
The Masonic lodge is one of more than a dozen statewide that are part of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons network. The fraternity, considered a secret society by some, promotes a belief in a Supreme Being and brotherly love. Its roots are believed to trace back to the Medieval Ages.
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Prince Hall was an abolitionist and leader in the community in Boston; he founded Prince Hall Freemasonry.
Freemasonry is a mostly secular organization with a social network that spans the globe. While some of the group's practices are kept from the public, many efforts are concentrated on community service and leadership.
The McDougall lodge was noted by the National Park Service for its contributions to the civil rights movement and the general experience for African Americans in Detroit in the 20th century.
While the history of Freemasonry in Michigan is fairly uncertain, the first lodge for nonwhite masons was founded in 1857 in the city of Niles by the Indiana deputy grandmaster. Some of the earliest documentation of Freemasonry in the state dates to the mid-1700s.
Contact Miriam Marini: mmarini@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Freemason lodge in Detroit added to National Registry of Historic Places
