Making Good Men Better

The first lodge in Washington County was Mt. Moriah No. 33 in Hagerstown (then called Elizabethtown).  It was charted in 1802.  Mt. Moriah flourished until the 1830s.  In 1821, in Boonsboro, Ureka Lodge was formed.  During the year of 1827, brothers of Mt. Moriah and Ureka, who lived in Williamsport, found it a hardship to travel the six miles to Hagerstown or the twelve miles to Boonsboro to attend lodge meetings.  They petitioned Mt. Moriah, the closest lodge, to form a new lodge to be known and designated as Friendship Lodge U.D.  Having gained permission, they petitioned the Grand Lodge of Maryland and Grand Master Howard authorized the lodge to be formed in Williamsport. 
On May 22, 1827, the lodge received it's charter from the Grand Lodge of Maryland.  On September 27, 1827,  a committee was formed to have the charter framed.  This committee acted according to it's instructions and the charter is still encased in the same frame.  In December of that year, a lodge seal was procured and is still used to this day. Between 1830 and 1837, anti-masonic sentiments were at their highest.  The Grand Lodge of Maryland consisted of 36 active lodges.  However, by 1839, that number fell to 13.  Despite bitter struggles during this time, and even talk of dissolving the lodge, Friendship Lodge still battled through.  From 1833 to 1838, membership rose from 14 to 26. 

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In June of 1831, Thaddeus Stevens, a member of the Anti-Masonic Party, gave a speech in Hagerstown.  His impassioned speech was so well received that Mt. Moriah Lodge and Ureka Lodge both went out of existence. 

From 1845-1846, no meetings were held.  The lodge fell into a state of inactivity but remained together.  On February 13, 1847, the lodge was meeting again at the Odd Fellows Hall in Hagerstown.  This is due to a resolution that was passed by Grand Lodge permitting Friendship Lodge to meet alternately between Williamsport and Hagerstown.  This resolution remained in force until 1846 when it was superseded by another, fixing the place of meeting as Hagerstown only.

For a few years, the lodge once again flourished but also fell back into a state of inactivity.  Petitions failed to come in, dues were hard to collect, and interest waned until only 20 members remained.  Finally, after the meeting held on March 2, 1850, the lodge ceased altogether to meet.  In continued to lay dormant until April 22, 1853 when it started to meet again in Williamsport.

In July of 1858, we find Friendship Lodge with seventeen members, back in Hagerstown where she has sinced remained.  By 1860, the number of brothers increased to 50 and to 89 by 1865.  The lodge was meeting in the southeast corner of a new building of the Public Square. 

Friendship Lodge laid the corner stone of the new Court House which still stands today.