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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — On June 5, 1922, ceremonial spades broke ground at Shuter's Hill in west Alexandria for the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, a project that would rise more than 330 feet above the city and become a defining feature of the Alexandria skyline.
The first dirt was turned by Louis A. Watres, president of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association and past Grand Master of Pennsylvania, and Charles H. Callahan, past master of Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 and a future Grand Master of Virginia. Callahan's role in the project went well beyond ceremonial — in 1909, while serving as senior warden of the lodge, he had personally purchased several lots on Shuter's Hill and donated the land to the lodge as the site for a future fireproof memorial.
The memorial's origins trace to a 1871 fire at the lodge that destroyed many invaluable Washington artifacts collected over generations. Alexandria-Washington Lodge had a uniquely deep connection to the first president: it was founded in 1783, with Washington elected as its first charter master under the Grand Lodge of Virginia in 1788. Washington served as master of the lodge while being inaugurated as the first president of the United States in April 1789. After his death, the lodge changed its name to honor him.
Plans for the memorial gathered force on Feb. 22, 1910 — Washington's birthday — when Joseph W. Eggleston, Grand Master of Virginia, invited every Grand Master in the United States to Alexandria-Washington Lodge to form an association to plan and build "a suitable Memorial Temple to George Washington, the Mason." Twenty-six Grand Lodges endorsed the project that day, forming the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association. A decade later, the colossal "lighthouse" design was approved.
Construction proceeded slowly by design. The Memorial Association refused to borrow money — work advanced only as donations from Masons across the country accumulated. The cornerstone was laid Nov. 1, 1923, in a ceremony attended by President Calvin Coolidge, former President and Chief Justice William H. Taft, and thousands of Freemasons from across the nation. The Great Depression did not stop the work, and on May 12, 1932 — the bicentennial year of Washington's birth — the memorial was dedicated in a ceremony attended by President Herbert Hoover. Interior work continued for nearly four decades; the memorial was not declared complete until 1970, with the large Square and Compasses emblem added to the front lawn in 1999.
The finished tower stands 333 feet tall, modeled in stepped tiers after the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt — a deliberate echo connecting the city to its namesake. From its observation level, visitors can see Washington's Mount Vernon estate, the U.S. Capitol, and the Washington Monument on clear days. The memorial is the only museum dedicated to interpreting the role of Freemasonry in Washington's life. In 2015, it was added to the U.S. government's National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark — recognized by the National Park Service as "the only major unified, fully national initiative of the Freemasons" to memorialize Washington.
Shuter's Hill itself carries deep history. The site was once home to a Federal-era manor house owned by Ludwell Lee, a relative of Robert E. Lee, and served as a Union Army fortification during the Civil War. The hill's elevation made it strategically valuable then — and made it the ideal platform for a monument intended to be visible for miles a century later.
Plan a visit
The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is open Monday and Thursday through Sunday, with guided tours offered at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Admission is $20 per person; children 12 and under are free. Photo ID is required, and advance reservations are required at gwmemorial.org. The memorial is closed on federal holidays.
Information via the Office of Historic Alexandria's "This Day in History" and the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association.
