A History of Birmingham Lodge No. 188,
A.F. & A.M.
Beltsville, Maryland

(From "A History of Birmingham Lodge, on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Lodge")

Introduction - 1891 through 1991

In this century we accept as commonplace such things as the automobile and high speed internet, cell phones, micro-electronics, plam size internet appliances, just to name a few.

Therefore, it is extremely difficult for us to imagine what life was like in the small farming community of Beltsville, Maryland, just one hundred years ago, when Birmingham Lodge No. 188 first came into existence. Life without electricity would be almost impossible for us today, and yet in 1891, although the phenomenon of electricity was known, its great potential was undreamed. The homes and public buildings of that day relied upon oil burning, wick lamps, and in the Lodge Halls, the Lesser Lights were candles. Central heating systems were not in general use and the potbellied wood stove was the accepted means of heating the lodge Hall.

To us it might seem that they indeed lived in an age of darkness, and yet our Brothers of that day practiced the same form of Masonry we do today. Their lives were governed by the same precepts and they adhered to the same tenets of our Institution. While they were permitted by the Grand Lodge to do a few things we cannot, conversely, we can do some things they could not.

Birmingham Lodge is fortunate to have in its possession a complete set of minutes beginning with the organizational meeting held on Tuesday, June 9, 1891. In reading these, one cannot help but be impressed by the thoroughness and the detail of these records. However, there are instances where certain details are lacking; details which are needed to complete the over-all picture, but which at the time, they must have felt were unnecessary because of their complete familiarity with the situation. In these instances we can only try to piece together the facts and read between the lines.

Original lodge building, circa 1891

The Year 1891

It seems unlikely that the year 1891 will rank as one of the outstanding years in the pages of history. In fact, it is almost impossible to find anything to distinguish it from any of the other years in the last decade of the 19th Century.

Our great country was under the leadership of its 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison, a Republican who was then serving the third year of his term. At that time there were only forty-four states in the Union, including Idaho and Wyoming, which had just become states the previous year. Yet to be admitted were: Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and considerably later, Alaska and Hawaii. It seems incredible to us now, that eighteen years were still to elapse before the discovery of the North Pole. A few notable inventions were made that year.

These inventions included the submarine, the oil cracking process [producing gasoline and other compounds] the color photo, and diphtheria antitoxin. Several persons, who were destined to become well know in the entertainment field were born that year. Among them were: Ted Lewis, Tim McCoy, Ronald Coleman, James Barton, Fanny Brice, and Chico Marx. (1)