About our Lodge

A Masonic heritage dating back to 1881

Our heritage dates back to 1881 with the formation of Schiller Lodge No. 41, and in 1892 with the formation of Rob Morris Lodge No. 92. Those two Lodges merged in 2016 to form Pythagoras Lodge No. 41.

Albert Pike Lodge No. 117 was formed in 1903, and Wheatridge Lodge No. 187 was formed in 1959. In 1995, Wheatridge Lodge merged into Albert Pike Lodge.

Read more below to learn about the merger of Albert Pike Lodge and Pythagoras Lodge that formed Marquis de Lafayette Lodge No. 41, about the Marquis and how his priceless apron came to Denver, a brief history of all five of our Lodges, and how we are the only Lodge in Colorado authorized to do the work in German.

In 2017, Worshipful Master Ricky Haskell of Pythagoras Lodge No. 41 began talks with Worshipful Master Lee Miller of Albert Pike Lodge No. 117 about merging the two lodges. After nearly two years of work between the Lodges, the Grand Lodge of Colorado chartered us on January 25th, 2019.

Our Lodge is named after Revolutionary War hero, Brother, General, and close friend of Brother George Washington, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, better known as the Marquis de Lafayette. Read more below about Lafayette and his apron from which we draw our name.

Masonic Lodges are numbered in the order that they are chartered. In keeping with tradition, our Lodge kept the lowest number of 41. The oldest Lodge in our history is Schiller Lodge No. 41, which was the only Lodge in Colorado authorized to work in the German language.

Read more below about the Lodges that form our history: Albert Pike No. 117, Pythagoras No. 41, Schiller No. 41, Rob Morris No. 92, and Wheatridge No. 187.

About the Lafayette Apron

A young French aristocrat and French Army officer, Lafayette became enamored of the Liberty movement in the American colonies and of his own accord came to America with an offer to help. Aided by Benjamin Franklin whom he had met during Franklin's travels to France, he was granted an audience with General George Washington. The untested Lafayette aided in training and purchasing supplies for the fledgling Revolutionary soldiers with his own money, and after several victories against the British he was promoted to the rank of General. Washington treated the young Lafayette as a son, and -- here history is somewhat vague -- Lafayette became a Freemason.

During America's 50th birthday celebration, Lafayette was invited to tour America. He was greeted with parades and public ceremonies everywhere he went. During his tour, he visited Apollo King Solomon's Lodge No. 13 in Troy NY. At the end of the Lodge meeting, Lafayette presented his personal, hand-painted silk apron to the Master of Troy Lodge, Worshipful Brother Adna Treat. In years to come, the Brethren of that Lodge thought the apron had disappeared forever.

The apron was handed down to WB Treat's son, who in turn gave the apron to his brother, who some years later presented it to his nephew, Worshipful Brother Nathan O. Vosburgh -- then the Treasurer of Albert Pike Lodge. On September 27th, 1928, WB Vosburgh officially presented the Lafayette apron to Albert Pike Lodge No 117.

At some point the apron, which was kept in an ordinary picture frame, somehow became tucked into the back of a storage closet. Our Secretary Emeritus, Worshipful Brother Christopher Scott, discovered the apron when cleaning out the closet around 2008.

After diligent research which included a call to the disbelieving present-day Secretary of Apollo King Solomon's Lodge, WB Christopher contacted the George Washington Memorial Museum in Alexandria, VA. The museum's director WB Mark Taggart (author of "American Freemasons") agreed to authenticate the apron.

This priceless Masonic artifact (pictured above) was displayed in the museum for several years until it was returned to us, where it is always proudly on display in the Denver Masonic building for all of our Brethren and visitors to see.

Trivia: The apron survived the 1984 fire which completely destroyed the interior of the Denver Masonic building because Albert Pike Lodge had been meeting in the Lakewood Lodge building for several years.

A brief history of our Lodges

Albert Pike Lodge No. 117

Named after the famous Masonic author and scholar, lawyer, and Army officer, the Lodge was first chartered in 1903. It met in the Denver Masonic building where we still meet today under our new name. In the ten years preceding the merger with Pythagoras Lodge, Albert Pike enjoyed a resurgence in membership owing to its commitment to its Brethren, and excellence in ritual work and Masonic education.

Pythagoras Lodge No. 41

In 2016, both Schiller and Rob Morris Lodges were suffering the membership issues that plague many Lodges. Realizing that most of its members belonged to both Lodges, they voted to combine those two Lodges, resulting in a new Lodge with a new name representative of their Masonic work. Until the merger with Albert Pike, they met in the Denver Consistory building.

Schiller Lodge No. 41

The oldest Lodge in our history, Schiller was chartered in 1881. A group of German speaking Masons in Denver wanted to honor the 100th anniversary of famous German Freemason Johann Christoph Friedrich Von Schiller and so approached the Grand Lodge of Colorado with the request for dispensation to charter a new Lodge. They also requested and were granted permission to conduct all of their work and to keep their records in German.

Rob Morris Lodge No. 92

Named for Masonic Poet Laureate Rob Morris, this lodge was formed from a request by several members of Denver Lodge No. 5 in 1892. Their first Worshipful Master John Fulton had met and was a great admirer of Worshipful Brother Rob Morris.

Wheatridge Lodge No. 187

Wheatridge Lodge was the result of the Wheatridge Masonic Club which had gathered in August of 1959 for the purposes of forming a new Lodge. It was granted a charter in September 1959. Wheatridge Lodge merged with Albert Pike Lodge in 1995.

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