We are a Symbolic Lodge subordinate to The Grand Lodge of Texas.
Our Stated Meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Our Lodge, Llano Grande Lodge No. 1173 AF & AM, District 40B, is a Regular and Recognized masonic lodge. It is a subordinate lodge of the Grand Lodge of Texas AF & AM and is one of six such lodges located in Hidalgo, Starr, and Cameron County. Our lodge is referred to as a Symbolic Lodge or more commonly as a Blue Lodge, hence one of the significant reasons it uses shades of blue in the lodge decorum.
The Blue or Symbolic Lodge is the fundamental body of Freemasonry. No other part of Masonry is accessible until one has received the three degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason given in the Blue or Symbolic Lodge.
Texas masonic charities include Texas Masonic Charities Foundation, Masonic School and Home of Texas, Texas Masonic Retirement Center, Gift of Life, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, Knights Templar Eye Foundation, Shriners Hospital for Children, and Grotto Humanitarian Foundation.
Llano Grande Lodge 1173 is also referred to as the Mid-Valley Masonic Center as it serves as the host site for the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and the York Rite Knight Templar Commandery lodges chartered in Hidalgo and Cameron County.
Freemasonry is a fraternity. Its membership is restricted to men, but there is no hazing as is found in some college fraternities. The Masonic Order is a serious group. It exists to take good men and help them to become better men. Thus, it is not a reform society. It does not exist to reform criminals, nor would such persons benefit from its teachings.
Freemasonry is not a religion, nor is it a substitute for religion. It requires of its members a belief in God as part of the obligation of every responsible adult, but advocates no sectarian faith or practice. Masonic ceremonies include prayers, both traditional and extempore, to reaffirm each individual's dependence on God and to seek divine guidance. Freemasonry is open to men of any faith, but religion may not be discussed at Masonic meetings.
Historic Texas Masons
Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston
William B. Travis
James Bowie
David Crockett
James Bonham
Ben Milam
David G. Burnet
James Fannin
Mirabeau B. Lamar
Anson Jones
Lorenzo de Zavala
Edward Burleson
Jose Navarro
Adolphus Sterne
Thomas Rusk
Robert M. Williamson
Juan N. Sequin
R. E. B. Baylor
Presidential Masons
George Washington
James Monroe
Andrew Jackson
James K. Polk
James Buchanan
Andrew Johnson
James A. Garfield
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Warren G. Harding
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Lyndon B. Johnson (EA only)
Gerald R. Ford
