History of Gate City Lodge #42
122 Years of Excellence from 1887-2009 in Atlanta Masonic District #3 under the
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Georgia 

On December 30, 1887, a charter was granted to Tilman Lodge #19 under the hand and seal of the Most Worshipful Grand Master John D. Campbell. Tilman Lodge #19 and the following officers were:
W. H. Tilman Worshipful Master
W.T. Robinson Senior Warden
S. A. Taylor Junior Warden

William H. Tilman was the second founding Pastor of Wheat Street Baptist church and was instrumental in having the church built on Wheat Street (now Auburn Ave.). Because tradition would dictate that a Lodge can not be named after a living person, two years after Tilman Lodge #19 was chartered; a petition was made for a new charter with a new name to the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons for the State of Georgia (held in the Masonic Hall, N. Broad St, Atlanta, Ga. July 1st thru July 4th 1889).

On July 13, 1889, a dispensation was granted under the leadership of the Grand Lodge officers:

Most Worshipful Grand Master William E. Terry
R. W. Deputy Grand Master Charles Max Manning
R. W. Senior Grand Warden Alexander Hamilton
R. W. Junior Grand Warden H. R. Steward
R. W. Grand Secretary Floyd H Crumbly

The name of the lodge was officially changed to Gate City Lodge #42 since the City of Atlanta was known as the “Gate City”. Atlanta was called “the Gateway city to the South” since 1857 because of the railroad connection from Memphis to Charleston.
Gate City Lodge #42 continued to meet and operate under the original charter issued to Tilman Lodge #19 until Past Master Lawrence Johnson in June of 1989 petitioned the Grand Lodge to receive the new Charter with the name of Gate City on it that was never received back in 1889. The request was made at the Grand Lodge communication in the city of Augusta.

The following year in the month of June 1990 in the City of Columbus the Warrant and Charter Committee of the Grand Lodge recommended that Gate City Lodge #42 be issued the duplicate charter from the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Jurisdiction of Georgia.

In June 1991, in the city of Jekyll, the duplicate charter was presented to Past Master James Johnson, Jr. by the Grand Master Neal A. McQueen; making it 100 years for Gate City Lodge to finally receive its charter with the new name. We know that Past Master and Lodge founder, W. H. Tilman was the treasurer of Saint James Lodge #4 in 1885 with Alexander Hamilton as the Master (the first and oldest Prince Hall Lodge in Atlanta). Since its inception in 1887, Gate City Lodge #42 has been one of the strongest fraternal institutions in Atlanta. In 1905, Gate City Lodge with the assistance of Brother W. A. Morgan was a member of the first Prince Hall Masonic Building Association on Auburn Avenue to purchase property along with Saint James Lodge #4, Rising Sun Lodge #23, Plymouth Rock Lodge #86, Crystal Lodge #112, and Atlanta Star Lodge #116.

In December of 1932, due to the economic woes of the Great Depression, Grand Master John Wesley Dobbs combined the 19 Atlanta Lodges into 10. Consequently he merged Capital City Lodge #272 and Alexander Harris Lodge #332 with Gate City Lodge #42 making the new Master of Gate City Lodge #42 J. H. Golden (from Capital City Lodge). History also reveals that a famous Past Master from #42, Emmett Allen, was asked by Grand Master Dobbs to go over to Plymouth Rock Lodge #86 to help with their financial problems. Gate City Lodge has been blessed with a rich history and a list of very distinguished leaders:

Past Masters

William H. Tilman with W. T. Robinson as SW and S. A. Taylor as JW
(met 2nd and 4th Sunday nights as Tilman #19)
W. A. Brown with J. D. King as SW and M. W. Nurks as JW
Petition was made to the MWUGL for a name change and on July 3rd it was granted by GM W. E. Terry
 
Dates Unknown
 
T. C. Strickland
W. T. Smith
Henry Lidell
Roger Henderson
Senford Mitchell
Lee Minter
John T. Hill
T. G. Hopkins
Samuel Rice
Frank Brown
Bert Hering
1914-1919 W. A. Bonds (when meeting changed to 2nd and 4th Tuesday)
1920-1921 D. B. Washington
1922-1923 G. W. Woolfolk
1924-1925 Clifford R. Johnson
1926-1931 J. F. Cunningham
1932 Paul Johnson
*1932 Gate City Lodge merged with Capital City Lodge #272 under WM
J. H. Golden and Alexander Harris #332 Under WM W. C. Smith
John H. Golden of Capital City Lodge #272 becomes the new Master in December
1933-1937 John H. Golden
1938 S. T. Bear
1939-1940 L. T. Byrd
1941-1943 Unknown Masters
1944 B. H. Heron
1946-1948 H. E. Eichelberger
1949-1952 Emmett Allen
1953-1954 Raymond H. Woods
1955 Fletcher McGowens
1956-1958 Walter N. Berry
1959 James Greason, Jr.
1960-1962 Joe B. Clayton
1963-1964 Fletcher Baldwin
1965-1966 Julius Minnifield
1967-1968 James E. Fuller
1969-1970 Anderson Barnes
1971 Rufus Stevenson
1972-1974 Henry L. Neely
1975-1976 Calvin C. Johnson
1977-1979 Ralph Kemp
1980 Raymond Solomon
1981 Charlie Humphries
1982 Willie Holman
1983 Charlie Humphries
1984-1985 Karl Wheeler
1986 Willie J. Green
1987-1988 Joseph Reese
1989 Lawrence Johnson
1990 Henry Stretchen
1991 James Johnson, Jr
1992-1993 Henry Stretchen
1994 John A. Mathews
1995-1996 Alphonso, Wright
1997 James Tarver
1998 Archie Horton
1999 Byron King
2000 Ronald Patterson
2001 Nathan Lucas
2002 Ron Triplett, II
2003 Marcus McCombs
2004 Thomas Walker
2005-2006 Phillip Rucker
2007 Kevin Britt
2008-2009 Darryl Dees

Some gold card members for 35 years plus membership are: Horace Brown, Willie J. Brown, John Bonner, Joe B. Clayton, James Fuller, PM James Greason, PM Ralph Kemp, PM Julius Minnifield, Andrew Ripley, Charles Smith, Sr. and PM Alphonso Wright, Sr.

Gate City Lodge #42 was the 3rd Masonic Lodge chartered in Atlanta for men of African-American descent. Gate City was chartered after Saint James Lodge #4 from 1871 and Rising Sun Lodge #23 the same year it was charted in 1887. Gate City Lodge #42 was the first Lodge however, in Atlanta chartered under the rival Grand Lodge system under Grand Master John D. Campbell of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. The AF&AM under GM Campbell was started in Savannah in 1874 under Rev. J. Robert Love as a protest to the National Grand Lodge system. The first 3 lodges to form this Grand Body was Excelsior Lodge #16 in Savannah, chartered by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of New York, Mt. Moriah Lodge #56 chartered by the Most Worshipful Hiram Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and St. Augustine Lodge #16 chartered by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Delaware. Under this Grand Lodge, Tilman Lodge #19 was chartered (as proof on the original charter of 1887).

In Atlanta, at this time Saint James Lodge #4 and Rising Sun Lodge #23 came under the F&AM (National Grand Lodge) started under GM Simms in 1870 in Savannah (after he helped to charter Eureka Lodge #11 in Savannah in 1865, Hilton Lodge #13 in Savannah, and Banneker Lodge #38 in Augusta). After the two Grand Lodges merged in 1888 (forming the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Georgia with John D. Campbell as the Grand Master),
Gate City Lodge #42 has taken its' rightful place among the five original Atlanta lodges and today is one of the best in the South.