Alamo Lodge No. 44, A.F. & A.M., is the oldest Masonic lodge in Bexar County, San Antonio, Texas, under the jurisdiction of the regular Grand Lodge of Texas. The lodge was granted a charter by the Grand Lodge of Texas on January 15, 1848; it is honored by a plaque on the South Wall of the Alamo's long barrack, hailing the lodge as the "Birthplace of Freemasonry in West Texas." The lodge, which is a "blue" or craft lodge, currently meets in San Antonio's Scottish Rite Cathedral, which is near the Alamo complex.[1]
Freemasons present during different stages of the Battle of the Alamo included James B. Bonham, James Bowie, David Crockett, Almeron Dickinson, and William B. Travis. The first Worshipful Master of the lodge was Captain James H. Ralston, an Assistant Quartermaster of U.S. Volunteers. Original members of the lodge were primarily military officers who were already Freemasons. The Lodge held its meetings for several months in an upper-story room of the Long Barrack until it moved into its own hall on Alamo Plaza on June 24, 1848. Through its history, two past masters of Alamo Lodge No. 44 served as Grand Masters of Texas: James H. McLeary (1881), and A.W. Houston (1914).[2]
Alamo Lodge No. 44 hosts an annual meeting of masons inside of the Alamo Chapel, an event which includes a public procession in Masonic regalia.[3]
The following is a list[4] of Past Masters of Alamo Lodge No. 44:
2018 - Robert M. Park
2017 - Tony Kimball
2016 - Anthony D. Harris
2015 - Michael Gollahon
2014 - Max M. Charleswell Jr.
2013 - Brady Johnson
2012 - Gregory D. Wright
2011 - Gregory D. Wright
2010 - Scott Mikos
2009 - Larry McNamee
2008 - Michael Goodrich
2007 - Jaime Garza
2006 - Edward V. O'Banion
2005 - Roland G. Havens
2004 - Armando Soto Sr.
2003 - Daniel K. Schauer
2002 - Eulalio C. Gonzalez
2001 - Steven C. Stanphill
2000 - William F. Jamison
1999 - Robert M. DeWalt
1998 - Guadalupe Gutierrez
1997 - Eulalio C. Gonzalez
1996 - Robert M. DeWalt
1995 - C.R. McCormick II
1994 - Rulalio C. Gonzalez
1993 - Jesus A. Garza
1992 - Jesus A. Araiza
1991 - Chas. A. Young
1990 - Henry W. Pooley
1989 - Donald R. Webster
1988 - Charles A. Kee
1987 - Kenneth R. Tucke
1986 - Charles A. Young
1985 - W.G. Howeth Jr.
1984 - George H. Trumbo Jr.
1983 - Gordon C. Ellis
1982 - John B. Searson
1981 - Donald L. Lively
1980 - James N. Higdon
1979 - Conrad Carr
1978 - Robert L. Wand
1977 - Thomas H. Bailey
1976 - D.A. Schwarz II
1975 - O.D. Cresswell Jr.