Bonhomme Lodge No. 45 AF&AM

Ballwin, Missouri

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One of the oldest Masonic Lodges in Missouri, Bonhomme Lodge was founded in Ballwin, a suburb of St. Louis, in 1841. The lodge was the only lodge in St. Louis County that was outside of the city limits, and so it is said to have been referred to as "the country lodge."  Bonhomme met for many years as a "full moon" lodge; most believe that this expression was applied to lodge's that met on the night of the full moon, allowing the brothers to travel by horseback to see the route home.  

The lodge building on Manchester Road was erected in 1922, and it certainly bore more resemblance to a small town, country lodge, than it did its city neighbors. A past renovation revealed the 12 foot high walls to be a full two hands, or eight inches in thickness, with actual two by six inch timber and an inch or more of plaster on each side.  Past Master Norman Findley (1924), before his death, told me of watching the builders who used horse drawn "spoons" to scoop out the earth for the foundation. Hitching rails used be placed on both sides of the entrance for the brothers to tie their mount or buggy team.  

In 2001, the lodge on Manchester Road was torn down for inevitable city expansion.  The lodge is currently planning new quarters, and has acquired land very near the same location.

Bonhomme Lodge today has 150 members on its rolls, and meets twice a month on the first and third Tuesday of each month, at 7:30 p.m. Most Tuesdays however will find the brothers in the Temple, as Bonhomme has for years held a Lodge of Instruction on all other Tuesdays. The result, of course, is a high degree of proficiency, which has won the lodge considerable recognition among members of the fraternity. Bonhomme Lodge #45 is also one of only five lodges to have received the Grand Lodge Achievement Award for twenty-nine consecutive years, every year since the award was created.