Freemasonry in New York & Westchester
Straight answers about joining, costs, history, and the lodges of the Hudson Valley.
Thinking about becoming a Freemason in New York, or just curious how the world’s oldest fraternity works here in Westchester County? These are the questions we hear most, answered plainly by Solomon’s Lodge No. 196, meeting in Tarrytown since 1821.
Freemasonry in New York is older than the nation itself: documented since the early 1730s and organized under the Grand Lodge of New York since 1781–82. Today its lodges stretch from Manhattan to the Adirondacks, including an active community of lodges here in Westchester and the river towns.
Joining in New York
Freemasonry never recruits, by the old tradition of 2B1ASK1, a man must ask of his own free will. In practice: contact a lodge (like Solomon’s Lodge No. 196 in Tarrytown), join the Brethren for a few informal dinners or open events, then submit a petition signed by two Master Masons in good standing. A friendly investigation committee meets with you, the lodge ballots on your petition, and you are initiated through the three degrees of Masonry.
A candidate in New York must be a man at least 18 years of age, of good moral character, who professes belief in a Supreme Being. Which faith is entirely his own, the lodge unites men of every religion. No profession, income level, or family connection is required.
There is a one-time petition and initiation fee and modest annual dues, which vary from lodge to lodge and support the lodge’s operations and charity. Every cost is explained clearly and upfront before you commit to anything, there are no hidden fees in Freemasonry.
Most men progress through the three degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason) over a number of months, at their own pace, guided by a mentor from the lodge. There is no rush.
No. While many men are introduced by a friend or relative, you are equally welcome to reach out to a lodge directly, that is exactly what 2B1ASK1 means. Send Solomon’s Lodge an inquiry and we’ll take it from there.
Freemasonry is a fraternity, not a religion. It requires belief in a Supreme Being but takes no part in theology, asks no man to change his faith, and seats Brothers of every religion side by side. Discussion of sectarian religion (and partisan politics) is traditionally excluded from the lodge.
Freemasonry in New York
The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York is the governing body of regular Freemasonry in the state. It traces to a warrant of 1781, was organized in 1782, and assumed its modern independent title in 1787. Headquartered at Masonic Hall on West 23rd Street in Manhattan, it today oversees hundreds of lodges, including Solomon’s Lodge No. 196, and tens of thousands of members across New York.
Yes. At the first inauguration in 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City, the oath of office was administered to George Washington by Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, then Grand Master of New York’s Masons, upon a Bible belonging to St. John’s Lodge No. 1, the oldest lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge of New York. That Bible remains the lodge’s property to this day.
DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York, Mayor of New York City, and champion of the Erie Canal, served as Grand Master from 1806 to 1819. Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice President of the United States, followed him. Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt were both raised in New York lodges, and the state’s rolls include names like John Jacob Astor, Harry Houdini, and Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. Solomon’s Lodge has its own notable roll, a congressman, a Baseball Hall of Famer, and an Apollo 11 engineer among them.
The Grand Lodge’s charitable institutions include the Masonic Care Community in Utica, the Masonic Medical Research Institute, the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library, the Masonic youth camp at Camp Turk, and the historic DeWint House in Tappan, George Washington’s onetime headquarters. Individual lodges give locally as well: see how Solomon’s Lodge gives back in Tarrytown and the river towns.
Documented Masonic activity in New York reaches back to the early 1730s, in the colonial era, making the Craft in New York older than the United States itself. The Grand Lodge dates its authority to 1781–82, and lodges like Solomon’s (chartered 1812) have met continuously through most of the Republic’s history.
Here in Westchester & Tarrytown
Yes. Westchester has active Masonic lodges from the river towns to the Connecticut line, organized under the 1st Westchester-Putnam District of the Grand Lodge of New York. Solomon’s Lodge No. 196 in Tarrytown, chartered in 1812, is among the county’s oldest. The Grand Lodge’s locator at nymasons.org lists every lodge in the state.
Right in the heart of it. Solomon’s Lodge No. 196 meets in the 1897 Tarrytown Masonic Building at 54 Main Street, on the village’s historic walking route, minutes from Sleepy Hollow. Our emblem is the Headless Horseman himself.
The lodge was chartered in 1812 and moved to Tarrytown in 1821, for many years the only active Masonic lodge in the riverside towns of Westchester. It survived the Anti-Masonic era, reunited with the Grand Lodge at the Grand Masonic Union of 1850, and held its 4,000th Communication in 2010. Read the full history.
Stated communications fall on the first and third Thursdays, September through June, at 54 Main Street, Tarrytown. Visiting Brethren are always welcome, and men curious about the Craft can join us for dinners and open events before ever petitioning. See Visit & Events for the calendar.
The lodge accepts worn American flags for dignified retirement year-round, awards scholarships to local high-school students, ran a 40-suit drive with Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, donates annually to local fire, ambulance, and EMS, and hosts ongoing educational and historical lectures. See the full record.
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