On November 15, 1900, twenty master masons, many from Longview Masonic Lodge No. 404, presented a petition to form a separate lodge. On April 19, 1901, Grand Master Nat M. Washer issued the dispensation, and Daniel Washington Wood served as first Worshipful Master of the new lodge. It formally chartered in December 1901 with 29 members. From 1901 to 1931, members met in James A. Ponder’s general store, which also housed the post office, on the northwest corner of Main and Pacific. During the lodge’s formative years, members included prominent early businessmen, clergymen, professionals and civic leaders of Gladewater. Among them was Dr. Earl George McLaughlin, who opened the city’s first hospital and invented a medication during the influenza epidemic of 1918 that earned him national acclaim. Sharing a common early history with the lodge is Chapter 831, Order of the Eastern Star. Chartered in 1932, the group has long been active in its support of lodge projects and activities. The lodge met for a time in a schoolhouse and in the Measles Hotel before building its own hall at this site. It first met here on July 1, 1940, and members formally dedicated the building in September of that year. They held meetings upstairs and leased the first floor space to a number of enterprises, including the Gladewater Daily Times-Tribune. Lodge members have served the Grand Lodge of Texas as district deputy grand masters and actively supported Masonic projects. Locally, they contribute to many worthwhile community and educational programs, including annual scholarships. Today, Gladewater Lodge No. 852 serves as an integral part of the city’s future, as well as a reminder of its rich history. (2005)