Alamo Lodge No. 44
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Alamo Lodge #44 is the first and oldest Masonic Lodge in the City of San Antonio (Bexar County) and has a rich and unique history due to having been founded in the the historic Alamo, the Shrine of Texas Liberty. The lodge was granted a charter from the Grand Lodge of Texas on January 15, 1848 and is now honored by a plaque on the south wall of the Alamo’s Long Barrack. In the 1840’s, troops returning from the Mexican War leased the Alamo to be used by the Quartermaster Corps for storing and shipping army supplies. The quartermaster was Major James Harvey Ralston, who had served in both houses of the Illinois legislature with both Lincoln and Douglas. Ralston was a mason as were many of the army officers and some local citizens. Those masons, with Major Ralston as the prime organizer, formed Alamo Masonic Lodge. The lodge room was on the second floor of the Nun’s quarters also referred to as the long barracks. The Quartermaster Corp put the first roof on the Alamo Chapel and contr