Local Mason, Grand Lodge lay bank cornerstone
Members of the Ohio Grand Lodge and Pomeroy/Racine Masonic Lodge 164 laid the cornerstone for the
new Home National Bank building in Racine last weekend, the first such ceremony led by Masons in Meigs
County since 1906.
slideshow RACINE — The Grand Lodge of Ohio teamed up with Pomeroy/Racine Masonic Lodge 164 and Masons
from other lodges in laying the cornerstone of the new Home National Bank building in Racine last weekend.
The Masons drew a lot of attention, with their suits decorated with jewels, decorative aprons around their
waist, and even a top hat. Community residents, a local Boy Scout troop and members of the bank’s board of
directors attended the ceremony.
Speakers included Charles R. Murphy, Grand Master of Masons of Ohio, Tom Wolfe, bank director, Mayor Scott
Hill, and Brent Shuler, Master of Pomeroy/Racine Lodge 164.
The day’s events will be recorded in the archives for the lodge, the bank, the village and the 12th Masonic
District.
According to Mason Rich Wamsley, the cornerstone-laying ceremony is a Masonic tradition that dates back as
far as George Washington laying the cornerstone for the Grand Lodge in Philadelphia, Pa. Research of Meigs
County shows that the last cornerstone ceremony here by the Grand Lodge of Ohio was in 1906 in Middleport
at the Heath United Methodist Church, where 200 Masons turned out.