May Historic Fact of the Month

Hope Lodge # 20

Hope Lodge No. 20, chartered on May 28, 1967, was the first lodge formed in the jurisdiction after the end of the Civil War. The lodge was consecrated and instituted at Central Masonic Hall, Ninth and D Streets, N.W., in the presence of twenty-five founding members and a large concourse of visitors. The first Master of Hope Lodge was John Cornelius Kondrup who was the Vice Consul of the Embassy of Denmark.  Worshipful Brother Kondrup was well known and highly esteemed in diplomatic circles, and in general society in Washington, DC, and was respected by all who knew him.