08/02/2026
The single most important event in Colorado Masonic history
—which happened exactly 165 years ago today—
is the official opening of the convention that formed the Grand Lodge of Colorado.
On August 2, 1861—exactly 165 years ago today—representatives of the three chartered lodges then working in Colorado Territory convened in Golden City and opened the convention that established the Grand Lodge of Colorado (formally the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Colorado).
The lodges were:
Golden City Lodge No. 34 (chartered by the Grand Lodge of Kansas)
Summit Lodge No. 7 at Parkville (chartered by Nebraska)
Rocky Mountain Lodge No. 8 at Gold Hill (also Nebraska)
Brother Eli Carter of Golden City opened and presided over the convention that day; O. A. Whittemore served as secretary. A constitution prepared by a committee (J. A. Moore, C. F. Holly, and S. M. Robbins) was adopted, and the following day the convention elected John M. Chivington as the first Grand Master, with the three founding lodges renumbered as Nos. 1, 2, and 3 under the new Grand Lodge.
This was the decisive step that took Colorado Masonry out from under the distant authority of Kansas and Nebraska and created a sovereign local jurisdiction only months after the Territory itself had been organized (February 1861). Before that date, the Craft had consisted of scattered informal gatherings in tents, cabins, and mining camps around Auraria/Denver, Central City, Gold Hill, and elsewhere, beginning with the first recorded meeting of seven Masons on November 3, 1858. The Golden City convention turned those isolated frontier bodies into a permanent, self-governing institution.
The first Annual Communication followed in December 1861 (held in Denver). From that foundation the Grand Lodge went on to charter the lodges that would later lay cornerstones across the Front Range and beyond. A fitting day to mark for any Colorado Mason.
