The replica 1903 lodge hall is the Masonic highlight to Alberta’s Fort Edmonton Park.

The interior of the replica lodge hall at Fort Edmonton Park, Alberta,
depicts how the room would have looked in 1903.

An amusement park may seem like an unusual spot to find a Masonic Hall, but then, Fort Edmonton Park, located on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, Alberta is much more than an amusement park. It is one of Canada’s largest living museums, covering four eras of the growth and development of this western city, which is the capital of Alberta.

The park takes its name from Fort Edmonton, which was originally called Edmonton House when it was established as a trading post for the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1795. The fort and trading post moved several times over the years, with the final fort being dismantled in 1915 to make way for the Alberta Legislature Building located in the city’s center. Fort Edmonton, the modern version, began in 1969, when a replica of the final fort was built three miles upstream from its last location. Fort Edmonton Park quickly became an important tourist attraction in Edmonton as well as an historical homage to Alberta’s fur trading past.

Today the living museum, in addition to the replica Fort, contains three areas representing the city’s past: 1885 street, 1905 street, and 1920 street. Visitors to the park can access the different areas on a steam engine, street car, stagecoach, or horse and buggy, but the best way to see everything is to travel on foot. Each street contains both original and replica buildings from the eras depicted by the street names and plenty of period costumed interpreters to explain in detail the historical stories told by the buildings. In total, Fort Edmonton Park contains over 75 buildings ranging from a North West Mounted Police outpost complete with replica jail and gun shed to the Hotel Selkirk, a replica of an early Alberta Hotel, where visitors can dine or spend the night.

To the Masonic Tourist, the most interesting part of the park is the replica lodge building located on 1905 Street. The Hall is aptly placed on 1905 Street, for it was in this year that Alberta became a province and the Grand Lodge of Alberta was formed. In fact one of the first acts of the Alberta Legislature was a private members’ bill establishing the Grand Lodge of Alberta. This act of legislature was put forth by Brother Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the Premier of Alberta at the time.

One of the period-costumed interpreters of Fort Edmonton Park stands in front of the home of Bro. Alexander Cameron Rutherford, Premier of Alberta.

In 1903 a Masonic hall was built on the west side of 102nd Street by Edmonton Lodge. This lodge would serve the Masons of Edmonton until 1930, when the present Freemasons’ Hall was completed. After the opening of the new Hall, the 102nd street location was sold and today no remnant of it exists at its former location. Alberta Masons and Masonic travelers are fortunate, however, to have an exact replica of the original building in Fort Edmonton Park to record this era in Alberta’s Masonic history.

Inside the ante-room of the replica hall is a plaque with the following inscription:

This building is sponsored by the Ionic Club of Edmonton (1976) and was officially opened on Nov. 16, 1980. The Ionic club of Edmonton is comprised of all Freemasons who are members of Edmonton Lodge No. 7 A.F. & A.M. G.R.A. and Eastgate Lodge No. 192 A.F. & A.M. G.R.A.

The Solid Symbol Society of Highlands Lodge No. 168, the Alberta government, and the Fort Edmonton Foundation also provided funding for the project.

The original 1903 building had many tenants for the lower section. Originally the rentable area was occupied by the Alberta College, but later had tenants such as Custom and Excise as well as the Shaw Cigar Factory. Today the lower section of the replica Masonic Hall is occupied by a café serving fast food to Fort Edmonton Park’s hungry visitors.

Access to the Masonic exhibit is via a set of stairs located on the side of the building. Arriving at the summit of the stairs, you find two rooms adjoining the lodge room itself. Here, in addition to the guest register and some pamphlets on various appendant and concordant bodies, are a number of Masonic artifacts from Alberta’s first century of Freemasonry: ornate regalia of years gone by, certificates of various types, photographs of Railroad Masons and a rather unflattering illustration of the Duke of Sussex, who was the First Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813.

The lodge room itself is an exact replica of that room in which so many of Alberta’s early Freemasons were initiated, passed and raised. As lodge rooms go, it hardly compares to the splendor of the present Freemasons’ Hall on 100th Avenue, but its charm is in its coziness and its connection to the past. In addition to the normal accoutrements of the lodge room, the walls are populated with aprons, regalia, and tracing boards used in the Canadian Rite as well as symbol charts utilized by our York Rite Brethren (Alberta works these two rituals within its jurisdiction). The room, despite its link to the past and additional artifacts, looks little different from the many lodge rooms we are all familiar with today, instantly illustrating to Masonic visitors how little things have changed in Alberta’s 100 years of history.

One small bonus for the Masonic traveler is a little office located off to the side of the lodge room. Here sitting on the desk is a special guest registry reserved for visiting brethren, and the tour guides will only be too happy to have you sign.

Like Fort Edmonton Park itself, the replica Masonic Hall is a living museum. Like Alberta’s working lodges, the replica lodge is alive with fellowship and a warm smile, whether the visitor is a Mason or not. The Masonic exhibit, located on the second floor is open seven days a week during the time when Fort Edmonton Park is open to visitors. From May to September, a large number of Edmonton Masons give up a day of their time to man the display answering questions for visitors to the park. With two Masons on duty each day, there are over 1,500 hours of time given to this exhibit by Alberta Masons each year.

Fort Edmonton Park is located on Whitemud Dr. and Fox Dr. (7000 – 143 St.) Admission to the park ranges from $4.75 for children to $9.25 for adults and is a very inexpensive way to spend a day in Edmonton, Alberta.

Stephen Dafoe is a Past Master of Moira Lodge No. 11, Belleville, Ontario, a member of Hinton Lodge No. 178 and Fiat Lux Lodge of Research No. 1980 in Alberta, and an honorary member of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a member of the Scottish and York Rites and is presently the Grand Pursuivant of the Grand Chapter of Alberta. Wor. Dafoe is the founder of several Masonic web sites including thelodgeroom.com, masonicdictionary.com, and radiofreemason.com as well as the author of several books on Freemasonry and the Knights Templar. Contact dafoe@thelodgeroom.com.