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A Brief History of Potomac Lodge No. 5, F.A.A.M.
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View a 30-second video
(1MB) featuring Potomac Lodge No. 5 and the Washington Gavel
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On April 21, 1789, George Washington arrived in Trenton, New Jersey and was feted
at a public dinner at Samuel Henry`s City Tavern. In response to the entreaties of
his countrymen, he was on his way from his beloved farm at Mount Vernon to New York
City, where he was shortly to be inaugurated as the President of the newly-formed
United States of America.
On that same day, at a meeting in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland,
the Grand Lodge of Maryland granted the petition of "a number of respectable
brethren from George Town on the Patowmack River," and issued a charter establishing
Lodge No. 9 of Maryland, the first regularly chartered lodge in the area which is
now the District of Columbia.
A brief reminder of the state of our Nation at that time: in May of 1789, the Congress
of the United States had met for its first session in New York. Five days before Lodge
No. 9 was chartered, on April 16th, George Washington had crossed the Potomac River from
 Alexandria to
Georgetown on his journey to New York to be inaugurated first President of the United
States. At the time of Lodge No. 9's chartering there was no President of the United
States; no City of Washington; and no District of Columbia
On October 20, 1792, members of Lodge No. 9 of Maryland marched from Georgetown to the City of
Washington, where in due Masonic form they laid the cornerstone of the President's House
(known now as the White House).
Again, on September 18, 1793, the members of the Lodge returned to the City of Washington,
this time accompanied by the members of Lodge No. 22 of Alexandria, Virginia and President
Washington. In the city they were met by the newly formed Lodge No. 15, (now Federal Lodge
No. 1) and after a reception they all proceeded to the work of the day: the laying of the
cornerstone of the Capitol of the United States.
Owing to the distances and the difficulty of travel, in 1792 and 1793 the Lodge granted
dispensation to members that they might hold meeting in Port Tobacco, Maryland and in
the Federal City. These two new lodges were soon granted their own charters as No. 11
and No. 15. Regrettably, however, Lodge No. 9 was thus so depleted that by 1794, it ceased
meeting.
In October 1795, the brethren of Georgetown petitioned for a new charter, and Lodge No. 15
reciprocated the earlier kindness of Lodge No. 9 and endorsed the petition. The Grand Lodge
of Maryland granted the charter under the name of Columbia Lodge No. 19, and its first meeting
was held on Saturday, November 17, 1795.
In less than two years, the small community of Georgetown was again in Masonic "darkness"
and remained so until 1806, when in response to still another petition, the Grand Lodge of
Maryland chartered Potomac Lodge No. 43 on November 11th. Since 1806, the Lodge has been
in continuous existence.
Of interest to Georgetowners is the fact that John Suter, Jr., proprietor of historic Suter's
Fountain Inn, was Senior Warden of Maryland Lodge No. 9 in 1795; he never attained the station
of Worshipful Master for reasons unknown.
Unfortunately, the Lodge minutes from April 21, 1789 to 1795 were burned in a Lodge fire, but
it has been well authenticated that President Washington, President Thomas Jefferson, Marquis de
LaFayette and Major Pierre L'Enfant have visited this Lodge which met at Suter's Fountain Inn
for several years after it was chartered.
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