History
A Lodge Forged in Pueblo
Twenty-eight Master Masons signed the petition. The Grand Lodge of Colorado granted the dispensation. On April 12, 1893, Silver State No. 95 was born.
A City on the Rise
When Silver State No. 95 received its charter on April 12, 1893, Pueblo was barely a generation old as a unified city. Its four boroughs — Pueblo, South Pueblo, Central Pueblo, and Bessemer — had only consolidated two years earlier.
Steel mills and four converging railroads had earned Pueblo the nickname "the Pittsburgh of the West." Welsh ironmasters, Slovak and Italian laborers, Mexican families, and ranchers from the surrounding plains made the city a true crossroads. The streets ran from the Arkansas River up to the Sangre de Cristo foothills, and the freight trains never stopped.
Into this young, fast-growing city came men of the Craft — and a Brother named George W. Roe, with a petition.
Our Story
In the closing years of the nineteenth century, the steel mills, smelters, and rail yards of Pueblo drew men from across the continent in search of honest work. Welsh ironmasters, Italian and Slovak laborers, Mexican families from the south, ranchers and merchants from the high plains — the city was a true crossroads, and a young one. Among the men who came west came Master Masons.
Brother George W. Roe arrived in Pueblo in 1889. After residing in the city four years, he had come to know its Masons well. Two lodges already met in town, but the city's population was growing faster than the rolls of the existing Lodges, and many visiting Brethren remained unaffiliated. Brother Roe quietly began to gather petitioners.
By the spring of 1893, twenty-eight Master Masons had signed his petition. On April 12, 1893, the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Colorado issued a dispensation authorizing the formation of Silver State Lodge No. 95. The name was chosen in honor of Colorado's silver-mining heritage — a tradition then common among western Lodges. The Lodge took up its first labor in the Masonic Temple at the corner of Broadway and Evans, the same neighborhood where it meets today.
Through Two Centuries
Through more than thirteen decades of stated communications, our Brethren have answered the call of country in two world wars, weathered the booms and busts of the steel industry, supported countless local charities, and quietly mentored generations of young men. The minutes of our Lodge are a record not only of degree work and dues, but of a community taking shape one virtue at a time.
The Lodge has occupied six homes in its history — the necessities of a growing city pushing the Brethren to move from the original Broadway location to the Pioneer Building (1894), the Hobson Building (1899), the Mechanics Building (1910), and the Scottish Rite Temple at 15th and Elizabeth (1951), before returning in 1999 to the historic Masonic Temple at Broadway and Evans, where we meet today.
The cornerstone and the great double-headed eagle from the Scottish Rite Temple at 15th and Elizabeth still stand — relocated to Graham Masonic Park, where the Brethren of Silver State No. 95 gather every fourth Saturday in June for the annual St. Johns Day Picnic.
Timeline
A short walk through the milestones of our Lodge and the city it has called home.
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1842
El Pueblo Founded
Trader George Simpson and a party of mountain men erect an adobe trading post at the confluence of Fountain Creek and the Arkansas River — the seed of the modern city of Pueblo.
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1858
Colorado Masonry Begins
Seven Master Masons, including William M. Slaughter, hold an informal meeting at the junction of Cherry Creek and the Platte River — the first stirrings of organized Freemasonry in what would become Colorado.
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1861
Grand Lodge of Colorado Constituted
On August 2, 1861, three frontier lodges meeting at Golden City form the sovereign Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Colorado. Henry M. Teller is its first Grand Master.
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1876
Colorado Statehood
Colorado is admitted to the Union on August 1, 1876 — the Centennial State. Pueblo is one of its three largest cities and the industrial heart of the southern region.
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1888
Pueblo at the Boom
Pueblo's smelters, steel mills, and four converging railroads make it the "Pittsburgh of the West." The city's population swells from immigrant workers, Welsh ironmasters, Mexican laborers, and ranchers from the surrounding plains.
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1889
Brother George W. Roe Arrives
Arriving in Pueblo in 1889, Brother George W. Roe — already a Master Mason — observes that despite two existing lodges, many visiting Masons in the booming city remain unaffiliated. He begins quietly to gather petitioners.
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1893
Silver State No. 95 Chartered
On April 12, 1893, twenty-eight Master Masons sign the petition. The Grand Lodge of Colorado issues the dispensation. Silver State Lodge No. 95 begins meeting at the Masonic Temple at the corner of Broadway and Evans.
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1894
Move to the Pioneer Building
On February 22, 1894, the Lodge moves to the Pioneer Building at 119 South Union Avenue, where it would meet for five years.
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1899
Hobson Building
On June 15, 1899, the Lodge moves again, this time to the Hobson Building at the corner of Santa Fe Avenue and 3rd Street.
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1910
Mechanics Building
The Lodge takes up residence in the Mechanics Building at 207 N. Main, a more permanent home for what was now a thriving fraternity of three generations of Pueblo's good men.
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1921
The Great Flood
The Arkansas River jumps its banks on June 3, 1921, and floods downtown Pueblo. The Brethren of Silver State, like all of Pueblo's Lodges, take part in the relief effort — feeding the displaced, sheltering the homeless, and rebuilding what could be rebuilt.
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1951
Scottish Rite Temple
In 1951 the Lodge moves to the Scottish Rite Temple at 15th & Elizabeth, sharing the great room with the Scottish Rite bodies for nearly half a century.
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1999
Return to Broadway
Silver State No. 95 returns to the historic Masonic Temple at Broadway and Evans, where it continues to meet today.
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2026
Carrying the Light Forward
Now in our 133rd year, Silver State Lodge No. 95 continues the work of building better men — through ritual, education, charity, and the quiet, steady fellowship of Brethren across generations.
Our Six Homes
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April 1893 — 1894
Masonic Temple, Broadway & Evans — Pueblo's original Masonic hall.
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February 22, 1894 — 1899
Pioneer Building, 119 South Union Avenue — in the heart of the historic Union Avenue district.
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June 15, 1899 — 1910
Hobson Building, Santa Fe Avenue & 3rd Street.
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1910 — 1951
Mechanics Building, 207 N. Main — our home through both World Wars and the Great Flood of 1921.
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1951 — 1999
Scottish Rite Temple, 15th & Elizabeth — shared with the Scottish Rite bodies for nearly half a century.
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1999 — Present
Masonic Temple, 126 Broadway Avenue — back where we began.
Researching a Brother?
If you are looking for records of a member of Silver State Lodge, please write to the Secretary at secretary@silverstate95.org. We are pleased to assist family historians and researchers where our records allow.