LONGVIEW, Texas — Freemasons from across the state joined representatives of the Grand Lodge of Texas on Wednesday at Pine Tree Lodge No. 1396 in Longview to resurrect the charter of a masonic lodge that closed its doors more than 140 years ago.
Tusculum Lodge No. 86 was originally chartered by the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1852 in the community of Pine Tree, and its building was home not only to the masonic lodge but to the first Pine Tree school as well as Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Jim Rumsey, Past Master of Pine Tree Lodge No. 1396 and Grand Lodge representative, said some years later, as the railroad and the center of commerce moved to nearby Longview and with many of its members transferring to Longview Masonic Lodge No. 404, Tusculum Lodge No. 86 surrendered its charter to the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1881.
Read more from CBS19's newspaper partner, the Longview News-Journal.
