В истории Лоуренс-каунти: более века работы масонской ложи Декайтер

On a Thursday evening more than a century ago, lights glowed in the lodge rooms on the third floor above Pierce City’s National Bank. Merchants, bankers, physicians and businessmen climbed the stairs for another meeting of Decatur Lodge No. 400. Some came to conduct business. Others came to visit with friends they had known for years. Similar evenings had taken place since 1871 and would continue for well over a century. Decatur Lodge was far from alone. A 1917 history of Lawrence County published in The Ozark Region: Its History and Its People noted that the county was home to nine Masonic lodges, including Mount Vernon, Halltown, Aurora, Marionville, Verona, Red Oak, Stinson, Miller and Pierce City’s Decatur Lodge. Together they counted hundreds of members across Lawrence County. Much of what happened inside the lodge remained known only to its members. The local newspapers, however, regularly recorded many of its public activities.