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HISTORY OF CONROE LODGE No. 748, A. F. & A. M.

Dispensation to form a Masonic Lodge in Conroe, Montgomery County, Texas was issued by the Grand Lodge of Texas on May 23, 1893. Conroe Lodge, under dispensation, was set to work on June 3, 1893 by M. C. Leslie, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas, with 23 members. George W. Bartle was the first Worshipful Master and served in 1893 and 1894. On December 6, 1894, the Grand Lodge of Texas, at its annual grand communication in Houston, granted a charter to the Lodge and assigned it number 748. The Lodge has operated continuously for one hundred years and now has a membership of about 465. Its membership peaked in 1986 in excess of 600.

Excerpts from early minutes of the Lodge indicate that on April 20, 1906, the Lodge voted to make a donation of $5.00 to San Francisco Masons for suffering and loss incurred in the San Francisco earthquake and fire. A new floor was installed in the Lodge's first building in 1908 and a motion was passed providing for a fine of fifty cents for spitting on the floor. The Lodge treasury lost $140.00 in 1914 due to a bank failure. Annual dues were waived on September 30, 1917 for members serving our country in WorId War 1.

In keeping with Masonic tradition, many members of the Lodge have been actively involved in civic affairs and public school education. D. C. Tharp, the Lodge's second Worshipful Master, was President of the Conroe school district board of trustees in 1899, and in the first municipal election held for City of Conroe officials on January 25, 1905, was elected as one of five aldermen. He served four years as Worshipful Master of the Lodge between 1895 and 1904.

J. O. H. Bennette, who served four years as Worshipful Master between 1908 and 1921, was President of the Conroe school district board of trustees for 17 years and was instrumental in the successful passage of a twenty thousand dollar bond issue in 1910 for the construction of a new school building. After the disastrous fire in downtown Conroe in 1911, the building was constructed of brick at a cost of twenty five thousand dollars. Named the J. O. H. Bennette School, it was the third building owned by the Conroe schools and the first to be constructed of brick. The building itself has long since been demolished, but the property is still in use by the Conroe Independent School District.

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