Ashcroft’s Masonic Lodge — Zarthan Lodge No. 105 — celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and during a pig roast at the Heritage Park on Railway Avenue on Aug. 26, members of the lodge presented the Village of Ashcroft with a cheque for $30,000 to assist with planned renovations at the south end of the park.
Members had met with the village earlier in the year to discuss a donation to mark the lodge’s milestone anniversary, and also made a presentation to council. As the Lodge has always met in downtown Ashcroft — originally in the building beside the Opera House at 4th and Brink, more recently above Home Hardware at 5th and Railway — a donation that would assist in renovating the nearby park was seen as a suitable way to commemorate the anniversary. A plaque was also presented, noting the Lodge’s 100th year.
It was founded in Ashcroft in February 1923, at a time when the town was facing a very uncertain future. Unstable economic times had followed in the wake of World War I, and Ashcroft was reeling not only from that, but from changes to transportation in the province which had seen its importance as a transport hub diminish considerably. The future of Ashcroft was in some doubt, so when a group of Freemasons began meeting in early 1922, to discuss forming a Lodge in the town, it was seen as a vote of confidence in the community.
Meetings continued throughout 1922, and arrangements were made to meet at the Oddfellows Hall beside the Opera House. On Feb. 8, 1923 the Lodge was instituted by District Deputy Grand Master G.E. Sanborn, and the Journal noted that “a large number of visitors from outside points were present” and that a banquet at the Central Hotel followed.
Zarthan Lodge No. 105 was constituted on Sept. 17, 1923. In November of 1923 the Lodge considered a motion to purchase the former schoolhouse on Bancroft Street — which had been replaced by the Lady Byng school, and is now part of the community hall — but the motion was defeated.
The name Zarthan comes from a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, which notes that the bronze castings for Solomon’s Temple were made in the clay grounds between Zarthan and the city of Sukkot. It is also the site of the miracle of the Israelites’ crossing of the River Jordan, with the waters stopping their flow at the “city of Adam beside Zarthan.” There the priests stepped into the water, which then “stood and rose upon an heap”, thus creating a 30-mile stretch of dry riverbed for the tribes to use for crossing over to the Promised Land.
The Lodge was able to purchase the Oddfellows Hall in 1928, and at its Jan. 6, 1936 meeting witnessed an “impressive ceremony”: the burning of the mortgage. Later that year the Lodge began removing some derelict outbuildings on the property, which included two additional lots: one was the site, for many years, of a tennis court, while the other eventually held a garage. In April 1953 both lots were sold, for a total of $1,600.
By December of 1948 the Lodge membership had reached 90; it peaked in 1958, with 119 members. In 1998 it was noted that the Lodge was suffering from both declining membership and a Lodge building that needed extensive repairs. Around 2008 the building was sold and operated for a time as an art gallery and store called the Painted Ladies, allowing members of the community to see inside it for the first time in 80 years. It has since passed into private hands.
Today Zarthan Lodge No. 105 has around 20 members, who come from Ashcroft, Lillooet, 100 Mile House, Merritt, and Kamloops. On Aug. 26, many of these members were joined by dozens of fellow Masons and their family members from around B.C. for the celebration of the Lodge’s 100th anniversary.
A member who travels to Ashcroft meetings from 100 Mile noted the large number of people from elsewhere who come to Zarthan Lodge, saying that it was part of what made the Lodge such a good one. Their donation to the Village of Ashcroft, for renovations at the Heritage Park, means that their legacy will continue long into a second century in the community.
