The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, commonly referred to as the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and abbreviated GLMA, is the main governing body of Freemasonry within Massachusetts, and maintains Lodges in other jurisdictions overseas, namely Panama, Chile, the People's Republic of China (meeting in Tokyo, Japan), and Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

On the date of that merger, 5 March 1792, the newly created body first exercised its new sovereign powers by electing a Grand Master in the person of John Cutler, and by adopting the name The Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Society of Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Freemasonry in Massachusetts dates to the early 18th century, and the foundation of its Grand Lodge is wound through with the threads of the (then) ongoing disputes between the Moderns and the Antients.

Price did so, and returned in the spring of 1733 with more than just a Warrant for an individual Lodge - he was made the "Provincial Grand Master of New England and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging" by the Grand Master, The Right Honorable and Right Worshipful Anthony Browne, 6th Viscount Montagu.

There was a growing rift in the Lodge of St Andrew regarding this decision to separate, and in December of that same year, it came to a vote.

Dr. Joseph Warren was the Master of the Lodge of St. Andrews when he was killed by the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Although there are indications that Freemasons met at several Boston locations in the 1720s, the constitution of the First Lodge, later named St John, took place at the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on July 30, 1733.

After the Revolutionary War there were references to the Royal Exchange Coffee House as a potential site for a home but few records exist.

A search for a permanent location ended with the purchase of the Winthrop House at the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets in 1859.

It was decided to tear down the entire building and rebuild a more substantial structure on the same site with nine floors above street level and two below.

As early as the 1750s, lodges were requested to contribute to a charity fund to provide relief to needy brethren.

Eventually a $1,000 donation from Mount Hope Lodge, Fall River, in 1904 established a fund to build a Masonic Home.

The Overlook Hotel in Charlton was purchased for $50,000 in 1908 along with 397 acres (1.61 km2) of land, and the building was dedicated for use as the Masonic Home on May 25, 1911.

James C. Nicoll Jr. requested the trustees of his private charitable foundation to make a gift after his death to the Masonic Education and Charity Trust for whatever purpose Grand Master Edgar W. Darling deemed most critically in need of support.

Among the more recent changes are an expansion of the original building for an administrative wing and the conversion of an auditorium to a lodge room.

The development also included a provision for an assisted living unit to provide for various levels of care as needed.

A number of Grand Masters in the late 19th century were considered strong Masonic scholars and were influential in building the collection.

In 1993, the library was formally named in honor of Samuel Crocker Lawrence, a Civil War general who was Grand Master in 1881–83.

Concerned about the proper preservation of the historical items, Grand Master Donald G. Hicks negotiated with the Scottish Rite Supreme Council's National Heritage Museum in Lexington to transfer the items from Boston on permanent loan.

In 1994, Grand Lodge instituted a scholarship program for children of Massachusetts Mason who are high school graduates enrolled in accredited colleges.

A study committee in 1947 had made the same recommendation, but the action caused concern among other Grand Lodges.

A new program known as the Masonic Angel Fund was established in 1998 by members of Universal Lodge in Orleans, and an accredited charitable foundation was approved in 2000.

To strengthen the bond with Prince Hall Masons, the officers of the two Grand Lodges visited the Old Granary and Copp's Hill burial grounds on May 10, 2005.

Several years later a larger monument was planned and the Grand Lodge laid the cornerstone with the Marquis de Lafayette in attendance.

The Grand Lodge was invited to participate in the 100th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

For the occasion, Grand Master Percival Lowell Everett wore an apron once owned by Joseph Warren, and the acting Deputy Grand Master, Dr. Winslow Lewis, wore the apron that had been worn by General Lafayette at the 1825 cornerstone-laying.