Monroe Masonic building to receive historic designation April 6

Monroe - History will be made in Monroe when the Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge of the state of New York designates the McGarrah Stagecoach Inn - which contains the oldest surviving Masonic lodge room in all the state - as a historic Masonic site on Sunday, April 6. In the days of the Revolutionary War, the only way to get from New York City to Albany was by stagecoach. It was a full day’s ride to Monroe where passengers rested at the McGarrah Stagecoach Inn, a large stately building with two floors which dates back to at least 1790, according to an archeological study. But, it actually has three floors, the third being uniquely designed in 1816 by the Inn’s owner, John McGarrah, for the exclusive use by Corner-Stone Masonic lodge #231. It had been chartered by New York’s Governor Dewitt Clinton (also Masonic Grand Master) in 1814. (Monroe was spelled Munro at the time.) His great-grandchild was Gates McGarrah, who served as the first president of the Federal Reserve Bank and was born in Goshen in 1863, according to his great-great-great-great granddaughter, Katherine McGarrah of Seattle. Gate’s great grandson, Richard, served as the CIA director under President Lyndon Johnson. The state’s current Masonic Grand Master, Neal I. Bidnick of New York City, will dedicate that room and the stagecoach building as a historic site on April 6th. In 1826 the Corner-Stone lodge #231 in Monroe went dark. But free masonry revived itself during the Civil War and Standard Lodge #711, which was chartered in 1871 in Chester. It moved to Monroe in 1884 where it met in the old Colonial Theatre building. In 1990, three lodges (Standard #711, Monroe; Lorrilard #858, Tuxedo and Woodbury #993) combined to form the current Cornerstone #711, according to Claude Horstmann, a former master of Cornerstone, a local historian and president of the Cornerstone Masonic Historic Society. In 1997, the lodge bought the huge McGarrah Stagecoach Inn building and five acres of surrounding land for $247,000, a purchase spearheaded by Horstmann. The post-Revolutionary War era building was in danger of being torn down for a car dealership, Horstmann explained. It is also included on the National Registry of Historic Places as part of the Village of Monroe. “We plan to open the building as a museum by September,” Horstmann added. It will also be available for community meetings and will include a dining experience with the menu changing monthly. No two planks of the building’s original wooden floors are the same width. When local trees were cut for the 1770s construction, they were simply cut in half, with the smooth side used as flooring, but the raw bark of the tree remains on the back side (seen in the basement and in the beams supporting the roof). “The dedication is important to Monroe because, within our building, we have the oldest existing Masonic lodge room in the state of New York,” said Jeffrey Davidson of Washingtonville, Worshipful Master of Cornerstone #711. “We have a very young, ethnically diverse lodge. Being in an officially designated historic building, I believe it will create more interest within masonry. We are a centerpiece for the Village of Monroe, for the public and masonry,” Davidson added. Although Masonic lodges had historically been primarily a white organization, Cornerstone #711 in Monroe is ethically diverse. Many Latinos and African Americans are active. “When I first came here eight years ago, it was culture shock, moving into a predominantly white, Anglo area,” says Mitchell Sanchez, a young bilingual Mason. “When you say ‘Free and Accepted Masons’ (formal name), I feel the ‘accepted’ part as a young Latino. It is amazing. I never felt the discomfort of segregation as being a mason. I feel more accepted,” Sanchez explained. The Masonic Grand Master’s dedication of the building at 300 Stage Road in Monroe - including the historic 3rd floor lodge room - on April 6th will be from 1 to 5 p.m. and is open to the public. Leo E. Laurence, who called Monroe home for many years, is a longtime journalist now based in San Diego. He returned to the area to participate in the ceremonies. He can be reached at leopowerhere@msn.com or 619-57-4909.