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Temple Lodge No. 14 of Free and Accepted Masons — the oldest fraternal organization in the City of Sonoma — will celebrate its 175th anniversary on Saturday, November 15, 2025, marking a proud legacy that reaches back to California’s earliest days and the very founding of the town of Sonoma itself.
Granted dispensation on November 25, 1850, and officially chartered on May 6, 1851, Temple Lodge No. 14 has served as a cornerstone of Sonoma’s civic and philanthropic life for nearly two centuries. Today, the Lodge continues that legacy through its strong support of local education—donating laptops and iPads to students in need throughout Sonoma Valley’s elementary schools, and contributing more than $10,000 over the past three years to DonorsChoose.org to help teachers purchase essential classroom materials. These initiatives underscore the Lodge’s enduring commitment to education, community service, and the advancement of Sonoma Valley’s next generation.
But the story of Sonoma’s Masons is inseparable from the story of Sonoma itself — and indeed, from the birth of California.
Freemasons played a central role in shaping California’s early identity. Many of the leaders of the Bear Flag Revolt of June 14, 1846 — the rebellion that helped set the stage for California’s transition from Mexican to U.S. governance — were Freemasons. Among them were Dr. Robert Baylor Semple, Captain Granville Perry Swift, Captain John Grigsby, Bartlett Vines, William Henry Hargrave, Peter Lassen, and George C. Yount.
Just weeks later, on July 9, 1846, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Joseph Warren Revere — himself a Freemason and the grandson of patriot Paul Revere — lowered the Bear Flag and raised the Stars and Stripes over Sonoma Plaza for the first time, forever linking Sonoma to the birth of the American West.
Following the Mexican-American War, a number of Freemason Army officers stationed in Sonoma remained to help build the young state’s institutions. Among them were Colonel Jonathan Drake Stevenson, commanding officer of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers and later the first Grand Master of Masons in California, and Lieutenant George Stoneman, Jr., a future Union General and Governor of California (1883–1887).
Their leadership helped establish the principles of community, service, and moral fortitude that became the hallmarks of California Freemasonry.
Temple Lodge’s roots stretch back to a meeting on April 9, 1851, when eight Freemasons gathered in the upstairs room of the Ray House (now the Adler Adobe at 205 East Spain Street). By the following month, the group had received its official charter, with Grand Master Stevenson presiding over the ceremony.
The Lodge’s early members included West Point graduates and Army officers such as Lt. George Horatio Derby (the Lodge’s first Master), Lt. George Stoneman (Secretary), and Lt. Robert Hopkins (Treasurer).
Over the decades, Temple Lodge met in several historic Sonoma buildings — including the Salvador Vallejo Adobe, the Vaslit Building, and the Sonoma Valley Bank Building — before settling in 1909 at 465 First Street West, where it remained for 84 years and grew to over 300 members.
Among the many distinguished Freemasons associated with Sonoma are several who achieved national prominence:
Through earthquakes, fires, and the passage of time, Temple Lodge No. 14 has endured as a living link between Sonoma’s frontier past and its vibrant present. In recent decades, the Lodge relocated to its current home at 669 Broadway, where members continue to uphold the timeless values of brotherly love, relief, and truth.
The Lodge’s 175th anniversary celebration will honor not only the Masons who helped shape Sonoma’s early years, but also the organization’s ongoing contributions to the civic and cultural life of the Sonoma Valley community.
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