The Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 is a Lodge that has a most interesting history. According to Grand Lodge records the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 was chartered on January 17, 1894 to meet in Twin Lake, Hernando County. It must be noted that the Twin Lake Lodge was chartered after the 1887 dividing of Hernando County into present day Pasco, Hernando and Citrus Counties. At chartering the Twin Lakes Lodge was located in Hernando County, just north of the county line between Pasco and Hernando Counties, in the small community of Twin Lakes. At the time of the Twin Lakes Lodge's charter, the three Line Officers representing the Lodge were:
In addition recorded were the chartering Grand Lodge Officers:
When chartered in 1894 the Twin Lake Lodge was comprised of 14 charter members. As meetings were organized the charter members came together in a two-story building, where the Lodge occupied the second floor. According to Grand Lodge records the 14 charter members of the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 were:
As the Twin Lakes Lodge was organized and started holding regular meeting their members increased in numbers. By December 27, 1894 the Lodge had increased with the addition of two members, James D. Matthews and Walter John Scott, both residents of Twin Lakes. According to Grand Lodge records there were 16 members in the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 by December of 1894, those members and their postal addresses were:
With the Lodge year ending on December 27, 1894 the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 had completed its first year. With a new year ahead of the Twin Lakes Lodge, it came time to decide new Officers for the year of 1895. Below is an image of the Annual Return of the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 and their choice of officers for the new year.
According to the December 1894 Annual Return of the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 the following Officers were to represent the Lodge for the upcoming year of 1895:
The Twin Lake Lodge No. 141 remained and active part of the Twin Lakes Community for the next 8 years. It was decided by the end of 1901 that rather then build a new Lodge they would move the old one, this was likely decided at the 1901 annual meeting. Moving the large two-story building wasn't an easy task. With a team of horses and mules the two-story building was chained up and pulled along pine trees that had been striped, acting as rollers. The team of horses pulled the two-story building for nearly 5 miles crossing the county lines, when finally they reached the small town Trilby where the new building would be set back on its foundation blocks. When built in 1894 the Lodge building sat in Hernando County, after the move in 1902 the Lodge building was now located in Pasco County. Below is a photo of how the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 looked in 2007.
According to Grand Lodge records, in 1901 when it was decided to move the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141, there were (41) forty-one active members. During the 8 years that the Lodge was located in Twin Lakes their numbers increased by 25 members. In 1901 when it was decided to move the Twin Lakes Lodge, the following Officers were representing the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141:
The above named Officers were the last Officers to serve and represent the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141. After being moved to Trilby in January of 1902 the Twin Lakes Lodge was renamed to the Trilby Lodge. According to Grand Lodge records, on January 23, 1902 the Twin Lakes Lodge No. 141 name was changed to Trilby Lodge No. 141. While the Lodge was renamed and relocated the members remained loyal and continued to attend meetings now in Trilby. The Lodge continued to conduct their meetings on the second floor the large two-story building, while the down stairs was occupied by a dry goods store. The photo below shows the upstairs rooms where Lodge No. 141 meetings were conducted, it was in this room that the original charters members met in January of 1984 at Twin Lakes.
The Trilby Lodge No. 141 made use of the two-story building, meeting in the upstairs room for the next 50 plus years. Sometime in the mid-1960's the Trilby Lodge No. 141 constructed a new building, which was located just down the road from the old two-story building. The new building was a single story building constructed of block, see photo below. Today the Trilby Lodge No. 141 remains an active part of the Trilby community and they continue to meeting. The Trilby Lodge No. 141 is also sometimes called "The Hoedown Lodge." The Twin Lakes and Trilby Lodge No. 141 were the only Lodges to ever carry the number 141.
Research by Jeff Cannon - Copyright © 2008 You might want to send him a thank you email for his hard work and dedication.
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