Entered Apprentices

Fellow Craft Masons

12001 Beverly Blvd. Whittier, CA 90601

In the Beginning:
The early history of the formation of the Greenleaf Lodge No. 670 and Gardens Lodge No. 621 is one rooted in the most basic tenets of our craft, with a desire for an association with good men of similar purpose. Greenleaf Gardens Lodge No. 670 united with the Gardens Lodge No. 621 to form Greenleaf Gardens Lodge No. 670 in 1995. This union has strengthened every member with the consolidation and has united our Lodges as one band of brothers with a common aim of bringing Masonry to the forefront within the community. In that by setting an example of brotherly Love, relief and truth for all good men to follow.

We would like to offer a brief history of the beginnings of each Lodge. This review does not cover all the participants who have contributed in the progress in the building of each of the Lodges, nor does it cover the entire history, but is a concise documentation of the beginnings of each.

The Gardens Lodge No. 621:
The beginning of the Gardens Lodge can be traced back to a meeting which was held be a group of interested and civic minded sojourning Masons on April 18, 1923, in a barber shop located in Belvedere Gardens. The barbershop was operated by Brother, Edward Skinner, a member of the Pasadena Lodge No. 272. This group felt that there should be a Lodge of Master Masons located in the community of Belvedere Gardens. They knew of other sojourning Masons in the area with no Lodge to attend and who would be interested in a Lodge in their area.

These Masons continued to meet and at one of their meetings it was agreed that a name should be selected for their group until such time as a formal name was adopted. After much discussion, the name "CINOSAM" was adopted, this being "MASONIC" spelled backwards. It was also agreed they would hold their meetings twice each month in the back room of the barbershop.

At the first official meeting of the "Cinosam Club", there were 23 members present and the brother John C. Post, a member of the Hollenbeck Lodge No. 319, acted as President. Brother Edward P. Woods, a member of the Westgate Lodge No. 392, acted as Vice President and Brother Floyd C. Nelson acted as Secretary.

Finally, on May 15, 1925 the embers of the Cinosam Club, together with other sojourning Masons, held a meeting in the Chamber of Commerce Office in Belvedere Gardens, to take the first steps towards forming a Lodge of their own. They were proud of the community of Belvedere Gardens, its residents and its business establishments. These men sincerely hoped to organize a Lodge in their own community that they and others to follow could enjoy and of which they would be proud. The records show that they exceeded their fondest hopes and expectations.

At the meeting, Brother John H. Craig was called to act as a temporary Chairman and Brother Floyd O. Nelson to act as temporary Secretary. Much was accomplished, including a discussion of an appropriate name for the Lodge. It was decided that all proposed names for the new Lodge would be submitted to Brother John C. Post who was given full authority to select a name and report back at a later date. A motion was then made to petition the Grand Lodge of California for a dispensation to organize a Masonic Lodge in Belvedere Gardens and the following officers were proposed:

John C. Post, Worshipful Master
Edward P. Woods, Senior Warden
Edward F. Skinner, Junior Warden
Fred M. Hale, Treasurer
Roderick M. Harvey, Secretary

A Committee was formed to find a meeting place and report back to Brother Post. The committee reported that the name. "The Gardens Lodge" had been selected. They also reported that Koehl Hall would be the new meeting place and that the rent would be $40.00 per month.

The dispensation was issued by the Grand Master on August 5, 1925 and on August 18, 1925 the Gardens Lodge, U.D. was instituted by Worshipful Franklin D. Caldwell, Inspector of the 86th Masonic District.

The first meeting of the "Gardens Lodge U.D." was held in August 19, 1925 and there was a total of 17 petitions for membership received on October 15, 1925. This was less than 60 days after the first meeting of the Lodge. The Grand lodge issued the Charter for the Gardens Lodge No. 621.

Grand master Albert E. Boynton and several of the Grand Lodge officers appeared at Sunset Masonic Temple in Los Angeles on October 30, 1925 and officially constituted the Lodge. There were four other Lodges constituted at the same time.

The Lodge continued to grow and plans continued to be made. A Temple Board was formed as the "East Los Angeles Temple Association". They held their first meeting on December 6, 1939. A series of property transactions the followed which finally concluded in 1950 with the purchase of the property located at 9310 East Olympic Blvd. The original building located on the site was to be remodeled to form the Lodge room and dinning room and kitchen was to be added later. The Secretary received the deed to this property on July 5, 1950.

Brother George Brooks, Past Master of the Gardens Lodge, being a building contractor, then took over the actual remodeling job abd served as foreman. Several of the members would come down on the weekends to assist with the carrying out of his plans. Other members who could not help on weekends would offer their help during the week. Brother George took one year off from his regular work in order to get the building in condition.

Much of this time he worked for little or no wages at all. Brother George was truly a Master builder and the architect of the Temple. During this time, the financial records were maintained by Brother Floyd, Vandegrift, P.M., who was the Secretary of the Temple Board During the time the members were working in the Temple, their wives, as well as the ladies of the Eastern Star, No. 464 would bring and serve lunch to everyone at the Temple.

When the remodeling work was completed, the first meeting in the new temple was held on September 5, 1951. Shortly thereafter, construction was started on the dinning room and it was used for the first time on January 5, 1952. Grand Master Louis C. Drapeau and several of the Grand Lodge Officers were present to dedicate the Lodge building on September 6, 1952. The dinning room and Lodge room was filled to capacity for this event.

The Final mortgage payment for the building was made in April 1960.

In the 1980's they moved to Rio Hondo Lodge and then moved to the Montebello Lodge until the earthquake in 1991. At that time they moved again to the Greenleaf Lodge and decided to consolidate with them to form Greenleaf Gardens Lodge No. 670, in 1995

Many fine men assented to the oriental chair between 1960 and 1995. Uniting with the Greenleaf Lodge in 1995 has proven to be a great relationship and we are honored to have such good men join together to form one Lodge of Brothers united.

Greenleaf Lodge No. 670:
The history of the formation of the Greenleaf Lodge No. 670 has come down to the actions of two men. Brother Bill Moore and Hugh M. Topping Sr. Brother Bill returned from World War I and felt that forming a new Lodge in Whittier was advantageous to the community.

Greenleaf Lodge was started in the shop at the Standard Oil Co. and some of the early references to Greenleaf were as "The Standard Oil Lodge". It was Bill Moore with his idea talking to a brother Worshipful Harold Mann, which started the process.

Once it was decided that they would attempt to form a new Lodge, it seemed that associated came easily and Grand Lodge stated that they would definitely consider a new Lodge as the community was large enough to support another. The early planning sessions began in the rear of Art McNeil's insurance office. They had the bare minimum of officers consisting of Worshipful Ken Matson, Ed Skinner, Ray Berry and Harold Mann, all of whom remained as active brethren throughout their lives. These men formed the nucleus of the new Lodge, which was to be names after the Poet John Greenleaf Whittier and which was suggested by Ken Matson. All of these men worked with their hands and had little experience with bookkeeping or secretarial duties. Hugh M. Topping Sr. arrived in Whittier to take over the duties as the city fire chief. He agreed to be the Secretary of the Lodge which added to the momentum for forming the new Lodge. A dispensation was granted and the Officers were elected and appointed. Work was commenced under the fellowship and spirit of all Masons who desire to make a home for themselves and a place to be proud to meet within the community.

Our first line of officers in 1928 were: Kenneth L Matson, Worshipful Master, Harold Mann, Senior Warden, Paul Wessman, Junior Warden, Hugh M. Topping (Chief) as Secretary and Arthur MacNeil as Treasurer. Degrees were performed and the raising of the first Master Mason was conducted in that year.

Time raced forward and the membership increased. Within a few short years a move was made from Greenleaf Ave. to South Bright Street. This facility was our home until late in 1951.

In 1945, under he leadership of Worshipful Larry Vestal, a Temple Association was formed with the purpose in mind of building our own Temple. This was the dream of some of our founding fathers and they spent every effort towards that goal. Breakfasts were held, barbecues, annual dinners and whatever would make money for the Temple fund. Property was acquired on West Hadley Street. It was "horse-traded" for property on Beverly Blvd. The building project was started in 1950.

First, the avocado trees were cleared off by the brethren.

"The call went forth and the craftsmen assembled with equipment ranging from handaxes and hammers to giant bulldozers.
A brother brought in heavy equipment, leveled and impacted the site for the building. A contract was set for the floors, the outside walls and the roof."

Again, the brethren took over - digging ditches for the sewers, gas, electricity and water lines under the floor. After contractor put floors, walls and the roof into place and the real fun began.

Every weekend found about 100 brothers swarming all over the place putting in doors, conduit, light fixtures, painting, sanding smoothing, and you name it, they did it, all very well. The fellowship found in the relations among the workmen only enhanced the closeness of an already warm and friendly Lodge. In August of 1951 there was held the first Stated Meeting in the new Lodge room under the Worshipful Grover Ahmann.

Special thanks to Len Rubin for assistance with photo enhancement.