Our History
On December 17, 1866, the Grand Master of Masons in Colorado granted dispensation to allow a lodge to be formed at Columbia City, Colorado. This was in or near the present site of the town of Ward and was the name of the major lode (A mining term) in the area. A meeting to organize the lodge was held on January 3, 1867 when a code of by-laws was adopted. A charter was granted on October 8, 1867 and the number 14 assigned. After less than one year, the mining activity had declined to the extent that most of the members had moved away and maintaining a viable lodge in that location was not possible. On September 12, 1868 it was resolved to ask the Grand Lodge for permission to move the Charter of the Lodge to Boulder City. At the Grand Lodge meeting in early October of that same year, a resolution was passed granting the move and the first Stated Communication in Boulder City was held on October 20, 1868 in a building on the north side of Pearl Street about 150 feet west of Broadway.
In 1895 the dedication of a permament home on the Southwest corner of Pearl and 14th Streets (south, across the street from the present day Boulder County Courthouse) was constructed at a price tag of $65,000. The Lodge room of this building was beautifully decorated with murals, solid wood paneling, jacquard woven carpets, fine furnishings, and several stained glass windows that were imported from England. The rest of the building was just as elegant, as it also housed several respectable merchants on the first floor, and several Lawyers, and government related offices on the second floor.
Tragety struck on the very very cold morning of April 5th 1945. The lodge building that was constructed in 1895 and located on the Southwest corner of 14th and Pearl streets took fire and burned to the ground. The fire was detected by Charles Guhse at approximately 2:45AM. Brother Gushe, the Tiler of one of the lodges, lived up in the mountains and would stay at the lodge building the night before lodge meetings. (Brother Gushe was nicknamed "Snow Bound Charlie".) Historical accounts from the newspaper stated that the fire was never contained and burned its self out after running out of things to burn at around 9:00AM, with flare ups continuing till 4:00 in the afternoon. Water was still being applied to the building until 7:00AM the following morning when it was determined that the danger of further flare ups was over. It was said that there was not a stick of wood or anything burnable left when the fire was completely out. Only the stone veniered brick outer shell (which statred to collapse within a couple of days after the fire was put out) and the warped steel I-beam work that suported the inner portions of the upper floors was all that remained. (The I-beams being warped would suggest how hot the fire burned.) This was the worst fire disaster in Boulder history up to that time.
A new Masonic Lodge building was completed on the corner of Broadway and Pine in the fall 1950, and is the home of all of the Boulder Masonic bodies today.
Since its move to Boulder over 140 years ago, Columbia Lodge #14 has met continuously and has had a presence in the affairs of the city of Boulder. The lodge has met in eight different locations, some for only one meeting due to emergencies such as fire, and two for fifty and sixty years each. Occasionally the Lodge holds a walking tour to visit these sites to explain what part each played in our history.