Grand Lodge of New York

The Grand Lodge of New York was founded December 15, 1782 and it acts as the coordinating body for many Masonic functions undertaken throughout the state.

No authenticated primary source records exist of his tenure as Provincial Grand Master, and he died a few years after his appointment.

From 1738 to the 1780s, additional Warrants were issued by the GLE, the Moderns, to Francis Goelet (1738–1753), George Harrison (1753–1771) and Sir John Johnson (1771–1783) to serve as Provincial Grandmaster.

As Johnson was a supporter of the British during the American Revolution, he is believed to have taken his warrant with him when he fled to Canada, thus leaving the Moderns Lodges without a Provincial Grand Master.

On June 24, 1826 the cornerstone was laid for a Gothic style Masonic Hall on Broadway in lower Manhattan between Reade and Pearl Streets, directly across from the original site of the New York Hospital.

In 1870, the cornerstone was laid for a new Second French Empire Style building which served as the headquarters of the Grand Lodge from 1875 to 1909.

At the time, the building caused some controversy, and Past Grand Master James Ten Eyck resigned as Trustee of the Masonic Hall and Asylum Fund in an effort to convince the then sitting Grand Master Townsend Scudder that the construction of the building would be unwise.

[12] In 2009, the Lodge formed a registered public charity for the purpose of preserving, maintaining and restoring the George Washington Inaugural Bible.

The Grand Lodge sponsors drug and alcohol awareness programs in schools, and gives thousands of dollars a day to worthy charities around the State.

Façade of the 24th street building of the Masonic Hall in Manhattan
Robert R. Livingston, a Founding Father of the United States who co-drafted the Declaration of Independence , was Grand Master of New York Freemasons from 1784 to 1800.
Portrait of DeWitt Clinton by Rembrandt Peale , 1823. DeWitt Clinton , a Governor of New York who ran for the American presidency in 1812 , was Grand Master of New York Freemasons from 1806 to 1819.
Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice President of the United States under James Monroe and Governor of New York, was a Grand Master of New York Freemasons from 1820 to 1821.
Stephen Van Rensselaer III, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives who played a pivotal role in deciding the 1824 presidency in favor of John Quincy Adams , was a Grand Master of New York Freemasons from 1825 to 1829.