On April 27, 1764, the Provincial Grand Master of the Free and Accepted Masons in New York issued a charter to a Masonic lodge in Detroit. The Royal American Regiment’s Lieutenant John Christie was the master of the lodge, Michigan’s first and the first one established west of the Allegheny Mountains.. The Detroit Masons first adopted the name Zion Lodge in 1794 when they operated under a new charter from Quebec. With American occupation of Michigan, the lodge again came under the Grand Lodge of New York, which issued a new charter in 1806 to “Zion Lodge No. 1” of Detroit. This name was retained by the Grand Lodge of Michigan when it was formed in 1826. Zion Lodge suspended operations during the War of 1812 and during the anti-masonic agitation on 1829-1845, but each time its functions were resumed.
A vintage postcard showing Detroit’s Masonic Temple.
Sources:
Michigan Historic Marker : Registered Site S0255 Erected 1964 Location: 500 Temple Avenue Detroit, Wayne County