The Legacy of #100
Since 1890, Jerusalem Military Lodge No. 100 has stood as a beacon of Prince Hall Masonry in Florida. Our history is written in the labor of the Brothers who came before us — founding members, Buffalo Soldiers, physicians, and civic leaders who helped build the city of Tampa.
Founding Roots: 1890
Jerusalem Lodge No. 100 was organized in 1890 and granted a charter Under Dispensation by the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida, Prince Hall Affiliation. Its earliest known officers — Peter Johnson (Worshipful Master), Moses Rich (Senior Warden), and W.S. Hatton (Junior Warden) — formed a foundation of leadership that would endure for generations.
Peter Johnson, a 32nd-degree Mason born in Gainesville in 1866 and a charter member of the lodge, served as Worshipful Master for over ten years. He was also the Royal Grand Patron of the state of Florida and a prominent Tampa businessman — president of the Florida Industrial and Commercial Company.
On March 1, 1907, the lodge received its formal charter under MWGM John H. Dickerson, establishing its official standing within the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida.
Pioneers of the Craft in Tampa — the men who built Jerusalem Lodge.
A Lodge Documented
"Jerusalem Lodge, No. 100, was organized in 1910 and at present has a membership of twenty-five. This lodge is composed of a number of men who are engaged in active business in Tampa..."
The paper's date is at odds with the lodge's own records, which place the organisation two decades earlier — Peter Johnson is recorded as a charter member from 1890. The quotation is reproduced as printed.
Officers recorded in 1915 included D.J. Reid (Worshipful Master, tailor), Z.D. Walker (Senior Warden, painter and contractor), and Secretary Peter Johnson, described as "one of Tampa's most influential Black businessmen." The lodge met on the first and third Thursdays at Masonic Hall, 612 Scott Street.
A legacy of service: the men who built Tampa's Black civic institutions.
Dr. George P. Norton
A graduate of Morehouse College, Dr. Norton took his medical degree at Meharry Medical College and became the first African American physician in both Apalachicola and Tampa.
He brought the Woman’s Suffrage Movement to Florida and gave money to the campaign for the vote. He held property and real estate, sat on the board of directors of the American Woodmen, and owned both the Lilly White and Central Life insurance companies. He owned the first African American drug store in Tampa, and was the first African American millionaire in the city.
He served this lodge as Grand Venerable Patron.
Transcribed from the lodge’s commemorative board at the Grand East in Jacksonville, reproduced as written. The board cites no sources, and several of its claims — among them the first Model T in Tampa — have not been checked against an independent record. Read it as the lodge’s own account of its Grand Venerable Patron.
The Norton board at the Grand East, Jacksonville.
The Grand East
Jerusalem Military Lodge No. 100 works under the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida, Prince Hall Affiliation, whose seat is the Masonic Temple at 410 Broad Street, Jacksonville.
The Temple’s history, as told at the Grand East.
Built by the Black Masons Grand Lodge between 1901 and 1912, the six-storey red brick Temple was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on 22 September 1980. It remains the headquarters of the Grand East and, for generations, was the focal point of Jacksonville’s Black commercial and fraternal life.
“one of the finest buildings in the world owned by Negroes”— The Negro Blue Book, 1926
It housed the Anderson Bank, the Pedro Mendez Tailor Shop, E. A. Welter’s Tooth Powder Co., the George W. Powell Real Estate Office, and the law offices of Daniel Webster Perkins and of Leander Shaw, Jr., later a Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
It was designed by Earl Mark and Leeroy Sheftall, who trained under Henry John Klutho — the architect who adapted Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style to Florida. They left Klutho’s office in 1912 to start their own firm, and began with a commission for the grandest building in Black Jacksonville.
The two pillars and the Master’s chair, at the M.W.U.G.L. Foundation’s community information centre.
R.W. Tommie Wright
Junior Grand Warden of the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida, and Zone 2 Coordinator. Jerusalem Military Lodge No. 100 works within Zone 2, which reaches from Alachua and Flagler in the north down to Collier in the south — Hillsborough County, and Tampa with it, sits at its centre.
The lodges of Zone 2 →Building the City
Faith & Community
The Lodge helped establish foundational institutions including churches and civic organizations that served the Black community during the Jim Crow era.
Military Heritage
From the Buffalo Soldiers of the 24th Infantry to its 2009 recharter as a military lodge at MacDill AFB, JML100 has always honored the Craft's ties to service.
Historical Milestones
1890
Jerusalem Lodge No. 100 organized and granted a charter Under Dispensation by the Most Worshipful Union Grand Lodge of Florida, PHA. Peter Johnson serves as founding Worshipful Master for over ten years.
1907
Formal charter granted on March 1st under MWGM John H. Dickerson. Charter officers: W.L. Rose (WM), Moses Rich (SW), W.S. Hatton (JW).
1915
Tampa Times profiles the Lodge, documenting 25 members and leadership under WM D.J. Reid. Secretary Peter Johnson is noted as a 32nd-degree Mason and Royal Grand Patron of Florida.
1999
Jerusalem Lodge No. 100 rechartered on April 21st at MacDill Air Force Base, beginning its modern era under WM Anthony E. Jones.
2009
Rechartered as Jerusalem Military Lodge No. 100 on April 23rd under MWGM Lee B. Carter, 33°, KYCH, solidifying the lodge's identity as a military lodge.
2022
Recognized by the Tampa Bay Times for 130+ years of leadership and its historic role in establishing the city of Tampa.
The Lodge in Action
The East Gallery
Honoring all who have presided over the Craft with wisdom and strength — 23 Brothers in the East since 1892, and 7 affiliated Past Masters.
Brethren and Chapters
Howard W. Blake
Principal of Booker T. Washington High School for twenty-one years, an organizer of the Florida High School Athletic Association, and a Brother of this lodge. Howard W. Blake Senior High School in Tampa carries his name.
His life →Military Lodges
The lodge has long kept ties with military lodges abroad — among them Babylon Military Lodge #203 and Cross Swords Military Lodge #150, both constituted in Iraq — and with Mount Pleasant Lodge #13 here in our own area.
Eastern Star
A.R. Cornish Chapter No. 121, our sister chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, Prince Hall Affiliated, named for the first Grand Worthy Matron of Jerusalem Grand Chapter.
The chapter →Historical Archive
Compiled History & Charter Lineage
Full archival record covering the 1890 UD charter, 1907 formal charter, 1999 & 2009 recharters, and complete WM lineage.
Download DocumentHistorical Profile & 1915 Newspaper Record
AI-assisted historical summary including the original Tampa Times article from January 28, 1915 with biographies of early lodge officers.
Download DocumentPast Masters List
Official record of all Worshipful Masters and affiliated Past Masters of Jerusalem Military Lodge No. 100.
Download Document