by Robert Houk, Johnson City Press, January 21, 2023
The Rhea Masonic Lodge No. 47 in Jonesborough, Tennessee will begin a yearlong observance of its 200th anniversary on January 28th, with a program starting at noon that will include remarks from the grand master of the Grand Masonic Lodge of Tennessee and local dignitaries.
Following the program, there will be an open house until 3 p.m. that will allow the public to tour the lodge and ask questions about the organization.
The Rhea Lodge is unique in that it is the only Masonic lodge to have both its dispensation papers and actual charter signed by Andrew Jackson, who served as the lodge’s first grand master and later became the seventh president of the United States.
Masonic leaders say the anniversary is a good opportunity to educate the public about the organization and its mission, which is to take good men and make them better morally and spiritually.
