HISTORY
Fort Washington Lodge No. 308, constituted
September 29, 1857, and Fritz Lodge No. 420, constituted August
15, 1868, merged on December 31, 2001, forming the present Fritz
Lodge No. 308.
Fort Washington, the historic village,
outside of Ambler Pennsylvania, where President, General and
Brother George Washington and the Continental Army were encamped
for a time during the Revolutionary War prior to their
encampment at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777, was
actually not the name requested in the original petition to the
Grand Lodge for the formation of the Lodge. The original
Petition calls for the name "Washington Lodge." The
official records of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania refer to the
Lodge from its inception as "Fort Washington Lodge." It is
interesting to note, however that despite the Grand Lodge's
official name "Fort Washington Lodge No. 308" in its minutes,
from 1857 until 1867, the Lodge always referred to itself as
"Washington Lodge No. 308"!
Fritz Lodge No. 420, located in Conshohocken,
the industrial mecca located on the banks of the Schuylkill
River, is named for Right Worshipful Past Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Brother Peter Fritz, who served as
Grand Master 1847-1848. The lodge most likely chose to
honor Brother Fritz in this manner due to the fact that he
resided about a mile outside of Conshohocken in Plymouth
Meeting. Fritz Lodge, from its inception, has mostly been
a "working Man's Lodge," with mostly blue collar members.
Brother Peter Fritz, being a Stone Mason by trade, the members
probably felt a sort of kinship with a man who worked with his
hands.
Fort Washington Lodge's first place of
meeting was in the attic of the Fort Washington Hotel on
Bethlehem Pike. The Lodge met there continually for 11
years until the completion of the Masonic Hall, which was
situated next door to the hotel. The new building was
completed in 1868. Ft. Washington Lodge met in this
building until the merger in 2001! A period of 133 years!
In contrast, Fritz Lodge's first meeting
place was the Odd Fellows Hall, located at 37 Fayette Street,
Conshohocken. Since then the lodge has moved four times.
The last move was to 801 Fayette Street, our present location.
This occurred in 1931. Thus ended 63 years of renting
meeting places. The Lodge now had a place it could truly
call "Home"!
It was to this "Home" that the brethren of
Fritz Lodge welcomed the members of the former Ft. Washington
Lodge, thus making it their home too.
