Original Lakewood Methodist / Masonic Lodge

Thanks to Steve Rankin for most of today's information about the original Lakewood Methodist Church/later Masonic Hall

The ‘Lakewood Park Methodist Church’ officially opened April 6, 1913, with Bishop John C. Kilgo (previous president of Trinity College) preaching the first service.

The Lakewood congregation traces its roots back to the fall of 1907, when an interdenominational Sunday School was first held at the Lakewood Park roller-skating rink by Reverends W. V. McRae and C. B. Culbreth. The Lakewood Church officially came into being in the summer of 1909, beginning with a founding congregation of less than 20 members, with T. M. Grant as the preacher. The church was 'officially' founded after a local successful revival conducted by Harry M. North (a teacher at Trinity Park School) occurred in early 1909. T. M. Grant was appointed the first pastor of LPMC. The church’s first building was apparently the "old Lakewood school building.”

During E. C. Durham’s tenure as pastor of the church, the church building was erected on Palmer Street, at a cost of between $4,500 and $5,000 (the debt was paid off in full by 1916).

Lakewood Methodist Church built a new structure at 2317 Chapel Hill Road in the early 1950s, and sold their original church building to the Durham (Masonic) Lodge Number 352 in 1953. The Masons had used various temporary quarters for their meetings after leaving the Eligibility Building in 1938.

Members soon began renovating the former church into a Masonic temple, removing the steeple, removing interior walls, removing the floor and joists (and installing a concrete pad, which lowered the floor by approximately a foot), and adding a second story and two-story flat-roofed addition to the rear. They also removed the original arched windows and installed small 1/1 sash windows and added a brick façade.

In September 2006, Legacy Research Associates (a cultural resources management firm) purchased the building and the adjoining structure at 1807 Palmer, to renovate for its offices; it is also the home to the ‘Lakewood History Center,’ a non-profit that deals with local history and preservation.


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