85 Northwest 5th Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33444, United States
Prince Hall
First Worshipful Master: African Lodge #459
Prince Hall is recognized as the Father of Black Masonry in the United States. He made it possible for us to be recognized and enjoy all privileges of Free and Accepted Masonry.
Black Freemasonry began when Prince Hall and fourteen other free black men were initiated into Lodge No. 441, Irish Constitution, attached to the 38th Regiment of Foot, British Army Garrisoned at Castle William (now Fort Independence) Boston Harbor on March 6, 1775.
When the British Army left Boston in 1776, this lodge, No. 441, granted Prince Hall and his brethren authority to meet as African Lodge No.1 (Under Dispensation), to go in procession on St. John's Day, and as a Lodge to bury their dead; but they could not confer degrees nor perform any other "Masonic Work".
On March 2, 1784, Prince Hall petitioned the Grand Lodge of England, through a Worshipful Master of a subordinate Lodge in London for a Charter. The warrant to African Lodge No. 459 of Boston was delivered on April 29, 1787 and organized one week later.
Prince Hall was appointed a Provincial Grand Master in 1791 by H.R.H., the Prince of Wales. Today, the Prince Hall fraternity has over 4,500 lodges worldwide, forming 46 independent jurisdictions with membership of over 300,000 masons.
