Please use this search box to find your nearest lodges. The
search box can accept city names like 'Toronto', Lodge names
like 'Union', or a Lodge number like '593'. No one knows exactly
how Masonry started. Its traditions, however, can be traced
directly to the guilds of stonemasons who built the stone
cathedrals and castles of the Middle Ages. With the decline of
cathedral building in the 17th century, many guilds of
“operative,” or practicing, stonemasons opened membership to
those who didn’t practice the mason's craft. These members were
called "accepted" masons. The groups were called lodges. Modern
Masonry was founded in England in 1717 when four lodges in
London joined to form the first Grand Lodge of England. From
Britain, Masonry spread over much of the world and today there
are approximately four million Masons and some 150 Grand Lodges.
Grand Lodges are independent of each other—there is no central
governing authority but each Grand Lodge must maintain
acceptable traditions, standards and practices