For Prospective Brethren
Becoming a Mason
Freemasonry isn't joined the way other organizations are. It's a deliberate, mutual process — the lodge gets to know you, and you get to know us. Here's how it works.
Est. December 16, 1882 · District 52 · Blanco County, Texas
Johnson City Lodge No. 561, A.F. & A.M.
Masonry with Grit.
A working lodge in the Texas Hill Country since 1882, under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Texas.
Est. 1882
The Founding Spirit.
This is C.T. Russell — the lodge's first Worshipful Master, photographed in 1882, the year our charter was granted.
He sat for his portrait the way a Hill Country man in 1882 sat for a portrait: in his Sunday coat, with his sidearm. Nobody had to explain why. He is, in one frame, every reason this lodge exists.
We are still that lodge.
Meeting Information
Stated Meetings
Third Tuesday of every month
Meal at 6:30 PM · Meeting at 7:30 PM
Floor School
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM
Where We're Meeting Now
Temporarily, by the gracious hospitality of Blanco Lodge No. 216:
1103 Main Street
Blanco, TX 78606
Where We're Going
The new lodge building under construction at the Johnson City Masonic Cemetery.
Mailing Address
PO Box 631
Johnson City, TX 78636
(830) 868-4618
Who We Are
A working lodge in Blanco County.
Johnson City Lodge No. 561 has met continuously in the Texas Hill Country since our charter was granted on December 16, 1882 — ten years before Blanco County's celebrated Texas Ranger Cicero Rufus Perry was laid to rest in the cemetery our brethren established.
After more than a century in our previous home, we are now building a new lodge on that same historic ground — joining the work of the present to the foundation our predecessors laid. We are a working lodge of Master Masons, drawn from Johnson City and the surrounding communities of Blanco County, pursuing the timeless work of the Craft: the slow shaping of a man's character through study, fellowship, and service to our community.
Three Doors
Where to begin.
For Members & Visitors
Events & Calendar
Stated meetings, called meetings for degree work, Floor School, and our annual lodge functions. Visiting brethren are warmly received — please contact us before your visit.
For Members
Members & Dues
Settle annual dues, contribute to a perpetual endowment, or support our scholarship and community work — all online, all secure.
The Building Project
Building a New Home on Hallowed Ground
In 2025, after generations of meeting in our historic lodge building, the brethren of Johnson City Lodge No. 561 made a momentous decision: to sell our long-time home and construct a new lodge on the property of the Johnson City Masonic Cemetery — the very ground our predecessors purchased in 1892.
It is a rare thing in the modern world to lay a cornerstone. It is rarer still to lay one in soil already consecrated by 130 years of brotherly remembrance.
We are not merely relocating.
We are returning.
Brotherly Love ❦ Relief ❦ Truth
The Three Principal Tenets
Lodge Life
A Working Lodge in the Hill Country
Even as we build, the work continues. Each stated meeting begins with a meal at 6:30 — open to members, candidates, and visiting brethren. After dinner, the lodge is opened on one of the three degrees of Masonry, and we conduct the lodge's business: reading correspondence, discussing the work, planning charitable efforts, and conferring degrees on candidates progressing through the Craft.
Beyond stated meetings, we hold Floor School every Tuesday at 7:00 PM for ritual practice and education. We support our community through scholarships for local students and Feed the Teachers Friday at the Johnson City schools, contribute to the work of the Grand Lodge of Texas — including the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and the Masonic Home and School — and care for the historic Johnson City Masonic Cemetery, which our predecessors established in 1892 and where our new lodge home now rises.
We are an active lodge. We expect our members to be active too.
Heritage
A Lodge Older Than the County Seat
When Johnson City Lodge No. 561 received its charter in December of 1882, the town it now calls home was barely a decade old. Our first members helped found the institutions that still define this part of the Hill Country — including the historic Masonic Cemetery, purchased in 1892 from Julia Ann Moore Johnson, the widow of Johnson City's namesake.
Among the more than 250 brethren and community members interred there is the celebrated Texas Ranger Cicero Rufus Perry. Their stones still stand. Now, on the same ground, the work begins again.