Museum & Archives

Over 100 years of documents and antiquities

Est 1907

Please take a look through the photos to the left, many local artifacts have been scanned for future generations.

A bit on the early history of Freemasonry (summarized from various sources).  The Halliwell Manuscript, or Regius Poem makes reference to several concepts and phrases similar to those found in Freemasonry and was written circa 1390. The Cooke Manuscript, from the mid-15th century is one of the oldest Gothic Constitutions. Freemasons place importance on the year 1717 with the establishment the Grand Lodge in London England, which is traditionally considered the formation of modern Freemasonry.
Dryden’'s lodge is numbered 484 in Ontario and has been in the community since 1907.  

Did you know there are many historical and influential Freemasons?  A few of note are: (summarized from several sources)

Famous Canadian Masons: Sir John A MacDonald; John G Diefenbaker, John D. Eaton (Eaton's stores) John Molson (Molson Breweries) Lord Stanley, Robert Service, poet (the Cremation of Sam McGee);  and many more...

Famous Masons in the Arts: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner, John Wayne, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Clark Gable, Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Rudyard Kipling, and many more...

World Leaders: George Washington (USA), Sir Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA), Napoleon Bonaparte (France), King Edward VII, King Edward VIII, George IV, George VI, William IV (Kings of England), Francis II (Holy Roman Emperor),  Peter the Great (Emperor of Russia), and many more...