Masonic Cornerstone Layings
The information on this chart comes from Cornerstones of Freedom: A Masonic Tradition, by S. Brent Morris (published by the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, in 1993), plus other books and sources. If anyone has suggestions for additions or changes on this chart, please send email to Paul M. Bessel at paulb’at’bessel.org so I can update this chart.
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| August 2, 1738 | New Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland – earliest record of a formal and official Masonic ceremony |
| April 15, 1791 | Jones Point – first boundary stone of Washington, D.C. |
| October 13, 1792 | White House (then called the President’s House) in Washington, D.C. |
| September 18, 1793 | United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. – George Washington presided |
| October 12, 1793 | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| July 4, 1815 | Washington Monument, Baltimore, Maryland |
| 1823 | Erie Canal, New York |
| June 17, 1825 | Battle of Bunker Hill Monument, near Boston, Massachusetts |
| 1825 | monument to General and Brother De Kalb, in South Carolina |
| July 4, 1828 | Baltimore & Ohio Railroad |
| 1847 | Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. |
| July 4, 1848 | Washington Monument, in Washington, D.C. |
| July 4, 1851 | Extension wings (for the Senate and House) of the U.S. Capitol building – Benjamin B. French presided |
| October 9, 1880 | Cleopatra’s Needle, New York City |
| June 24, 1881 | St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Cambridge, Maryland |
| August 5, 1884 | Statue of Liberty, New York |
| September 29, 1907 | Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. |
| October 18, 1911 | House of the Temple, headquarters of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, in Washington, D.C. |
| September 18, 1922 | Detroit Masonic Temple (largest in the world), Detroit, Michigan |
| 1923 | George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Alexandria, Virginia |
| 1932 | Reenactment of the cornerstone laying of the U.S. Capitol building, in Washington, D.C. |
| December 15, 1932 | Department of Labor Building, Washington, D.C. |
| July 4, 1959 | East front extension of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. |
| June 2, 1974 | Simpson-Hemline United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C., by the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia |
| 1981 | Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. – Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia |
| June 21, 1981 | Fellowship Hall of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Cambridge, Maryland |
| July 31, 1982 | Townshend Lodge #6, Port Townshend, Washington (State) |
| October 2, 1982 | Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington (State) |
| November 11, 1989 | Holy Protection Gnostic Orthodox Monastery, Nebraska |
| April 15, 1991 | Reenactment of the Masonic cornerstone laying of the Washington D.C. boundary stone at Jones Point, Alexandria, Virginia |
| September 13, 1992 | Stewartville United Methodist Church, Stewartville, Minnesota |
| October 3, 1992 | George Washington’s Grist Mill, Perryopolis, Pennsylvania |
| October 13, 1992 | Reenactment of the Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony of the White House, in Washington, D.C. |
| August 21, 1993 | Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial Monument, at Gettysburg National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |
| September 18, 1993 | Reenactment of the Cornerstone laying of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. |
| October 23, 1993 | Bicentennial celebration of the Cornerstone laying of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. |