Our History
The Nevada Lodge #99 AF & AM was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Iowa on June 4th, 1857 – a short 4 years after the village of Nevada came into being in 1853. Nevada Lodge #99 holds the distinction of being the oldest fraternal organization in Story County, Iowa.
Our lodge’s existence harkens back to the efforts of Colonel John Scott, a Nevada politician, who is also known for providing a home for a Nevada schoolboy who would later become the famed evangelist Billy Sunday. Col. Scott took in the boy as a hired hand when his mother was unable to care for him. Col. Scott made sure the boy went to school and it was after his baseball talent was recognized that he left Nevada and the Col. Scott home. Col. Scott also holds the distinction of being Iowa’s 6th Lieutenant Governor.
The first meeting of the newly chartered Nevada Lodge #99 (the number 99 indicates it was the 99th lodge chartered by the Grand Lodge of Iowa), was held in what was the Nevada Hall on the second story of V.J. Adamson’s New York Store located just east of what is now the northeast corner of the former Story County Hospital (near 6th Street and G Avenue). This location of what was known as the Hawthorne Building on the west side of Linn Street.
Unfortunately, our original charter and all records were lost in a tragic fire on December 2nd, 1880. This fire consumed not only the Masonic & Odd Fellows building that the two organizations built on the city’s Main Street (now 5th Street), but several other buildings as well. After meeting at several other locations, the lodge pursued a home more permanent in nature by selling shares to members in the Masonic Temple Company. This company acquired the current location (Ringheim Building) in 1912. From it’s initial membership of “about 15 good Masons” listed by Colonel John Scott in his petition to the Grand Lodge, Nevada Lodge #99 has grown throughout the years.
The Temple - the Ringheim Block
I.A. Ringheim, an immigrant from Norway, arrived in Nevada in 1865 and became a partner with Iver Johnson in a dry goods business (Johnson & Ringheim). The next year Mr. Ringheim was sole proprietor and in 1877 he initiated plans to expand. This included moving the frame building he had to allow him to continue business and build a new structure on the same land. The grand opening was on Nov. 1, 1887 at a cost of $16,000.
After the loss of our first temple by fire in 1880 and several years of meeting in temporary locations, in 1912 the Masonic Temple Company was formed and purchased the Ringheim Block. The 2nd floor was outfitted as a home for the lodge, with the 1st floor remaining storefronts.
In 2023, the Masonic Temple Company started undertaking a Capital Campaign dubbed “145+”, whereby raising funds to restore the facade of the building back to it’s 1877 charm as well as provide updates to the building’s infrastructure to ensure it remains a suitable home for Masons in the area for another 145 years.