St. John's Lodge No. 7

In July 1855, a group of dedicated men petitioned the Hiram Grand Lodge of Delaware for a charter to establish a Master Mason lodge in Smyrna, Delaware. On September 15, 1856, Right Worshipful Grand Master Frisby John Cooper issued the Charter, empowering the brethren to establish St. John’s Lodge No. 7. Brother George Boyer was installed as its first Worshipful Master, Brother Alexander Jackson as Senior Warden, and Brother Robert Davis Sr. as Junior Warden.

From 1910 to about 1918, the lodge met in the former Centennial Methodist Episcopal Church building at North and East Streets in Smyrna. In 1935 the lodge moved to 113 N. East Street. In the spring of 2008 the building was demolished and a new one erected in its place, completed that summer; a Cornerstone Laying Ceremony was held on October 31, 2009.

St. John’s Lodge is deeply committed to its community, engaging in charitable work such as Toys for Tots and Thanksgiving food baskets, and helping to preserve local history at Union Cemetery in Smyrna, established in 1904 as a historically African-American burial ground.

The lodge proudly honors members such as Brother George Wright Jr., Delaware’s first African American mayor, whom the Town of Smyrna honored with a park and a statue at City Hall. Two of its members became Most Worshipful Grand Masters of the jurisdiction: Stewart Simmons (1962-1966) and Franklin S. Chandler Sr. (2009-2013).