Greater Johnstown Lodge No. 538 F.&A.M. of Pennsylvania 3.09

A short history of Greater Johnstown Lodge 538. Freemasonry came to Johnstown, PA, in 1854 when Cambria Lodge No. 278 was constituted. By 1875 the membership of Cambria Lodge had grown large enough that a second lodge was considered practical for Johnstown. On June 14, 1875 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania granted the charter for Johnstown Lodge No. 538. The lodges’ first Worshipful Master, John P. Linton, had served as a Colonel of Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. Johnstown Lodge’s first Senior Warden, Jacob M. Campbell, served as a brevet Brigadier General during the Civil War and would be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives the following year.
Johnstown Lodge initially met on the north-east corner of Clinton and Railroad Streets in downtown Johnstown. The earliest records of the lodge were unfortunately lost in a fire. By 1876, Johnstown Lodge was meeting on the first Monday of the month in Thomas Hall on Main Street. In 1884, Johnstown’s first four-story building, Alma Hall, was opened by I.O.O.F. Alma Lodge. All Masonic bodies moved into the building in 1885, and Johnstown Lodge began meeting on the first Thursday of the month.
On May 31, 1889, Johnstown was the scene of one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. Heavy rains caused a dilapidated canal dam built on the Conemaugh River 14 miles above Johnstown to burst. A wall of water rushed down the valley to Johnstown, destroying the city and killing 2,209 people. Six members of Lodge No. 538 perished in the flood. Alma Hall was one of a handful of buildings to survive the torrent and the lodge records fortunately survived.
Johnstown Lodge had its greatest growth during the periods immediately following World War I and World War II. In 1920, Johnstown Lodge initiated 87 members; the highest yearly total of initiated members ever. In 1946 and 1947, 69 and 68 members, respectively, were initiated.
While there had been only two lodges in Johnstown when Alma Hall opened in 1884, by 1925 there were four Lodges. The growing fraternity required a building of its own. A Temple Association was formed and in 1929 approved construction of a temple. The cornerstone was laid in a Masonic ceremony presided over by Right Worshipful Grand Master William S. Snyder on November 14, 1931. Johnstown Lodge’s first meeting in the new temple occurred on December 6, 1934.
Johnstown Lodge celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 1975. The signature event was the visit of Right Worshipful Grand Master Rochester B. Woodall on June 14 with an anniversary dinner for 500 brethren and a memorial service for all brethren. In the 1970s and 1980s Johnstown suffered economically as the steel mills and coal mines that supported the region shut down. Johnstown could no longer support four Masonic lodges. As a result, Conemaugh Valley Lodge No. 692 and Sunnehanna Lodge No. 742 merged with Lodge No. 538, creating the present Greater Johnstown Lodge No. 538. Greater Johnstown Lodge celebrated its 125th Anniversary with an anniversary dinner and a visit from Right Worshipful Grand Master Robert L. Dulge, Jr., on May 5, 2000.
Today Greater Johnstown Lodge No. 538 prides itself on the high caliber of degree work conducted by its officers. The lodge has actively assisted the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania through one-day Masonic Journey classes conducted in 2004, 2005 and 2010. In 2007, Greater Johnstown Lodge traveled to Washington, D.C., and conferred the Master Mason’s degree at the George Washington National Memorial.