Peel became a separate county in 1867 with
Brampton as the County Town. Brampton grew to a population of 2,000 and
was incorporated as a town in 1873. The growth of Masonry was greatly
stimulated by the coming to Canada of the United Empire Loyalists of which
many where Masons. Brampton being primarily a farming area attracted many
of these new comers.
In this environment, Ionic Lodge No. 229 was born in 1870 with eight charter
members. The first recorded meeting was held on May 11, 1870. Ionic
Lodge was dedicated on October 5, 1870, by R.W. Bro. J. H. Kerr, D.D.G.M.
of Toronto.
The lodge met in rather primitive conditions as furniture and money were
scarce. In April 1871, the Lodge purchased sixteen chair for the price of
$9.28. In December of 1877, lodge membership was shown as seventy seven.
In 1911, the Lodge purchased the Times Building in which it was meeting.
The purchase price of the land and building was $3,000.00. Total assets
of the Lodge were $1,237.00. The necessary funds were raised by selling
shares to the Lodge members for $10.00 and by taking out a mortgage.
The Lodge went through a slow but steady period of growth in the 20's,
30's and 40's. On Thursday, April 22, 1945, the building and its contents
were completely destroyed by fire. Even the minutes books were damaged by
water. For a year after, the lodge met in the Oddfellows Hall until a
decision was made whether to rebuild the old location or look for a new
one. It was decided to rebuild.
The Lodge Building was rebuilt and the mortgage was burned at a ceremony
on April 19, 1949. The building, land and contents were valued at
$86,000.00.
Masonry continues to grow along with the Town of Brampton and from 1957 to
1991, six Lodges were formed along with Charters of the Eastern Star,
Royal Arch Masons, etc.
In 1976, the Corporation decided to convert the downstairs of the building
at 10 Main Street into a banquet hall. This required a mortgage of
$65,000.00 which was paid off by selling shares to the lodges. This meant
a change for the Corporation by making the other Lodges partners in the
Corporation. The by-laws were also changed to allow representatives of
the other lodges to become Directors of the Ionic Masonic Corporation.
In 1987, the mortgage was completely paid off and the Corporation decided
it was time to look for a new location. It was decided to sell the old
property and look for new location in the $800,000.00 range. The building
at 10 Main St. was sold on October 10, 1988, for a price of
$850,000.00. A contract was signed with Bramalea Ltd., to purchase one
acre of land at 955 Clarke Blvd subject to zoning approval.
Three major committees where appointed to prepare for this new important
project. A new building committee under the Chairmanship of W.Bro. Ken
Appleby, a re-zoning committee under the Chairmanship of V.W.Bro. Ed
Campbell-MacIntosh and a by-law committee.
After much discussion and speculation a
building plan was prepared by architect John Dorris. The building
was to be a one story building of 6,500 square feet. A contract
was signed by De Man Construction to build such a building for
$643,000.00. Ground was broken in the spring of 1990 and the
official ground breaking ceremony was held on Saturday March 29.
Construction progressed well throughout the summer and by October the
building was deemed ready for use as a lodge building.
At this time the Ionic Masonic Corporation decided to pass the ownership
of the new building over to the newly formed Brampton Masonic Corporation.
There still remained a shortfall of $200,000.00 to cover furnishings,
landscaping, paving, etc., so it was decided to solicit the membership and
create the "The Wall of 1,000 Names". To this date, $100,000.00 has been
collected and other ways were used to make up the difference so that the
new building is presently debt free.
On Saturday May 4,1991, the new building was dedicated and the cornerstone
dated 1990 was unveiled at a ceremony conducted by M.W. Bro. David C.
Bradley, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge A.F.&A.M. of Canada in the
Province of Ontario and numerous Grand Lodge officers.
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