Excerpts from the Jackson County Newspaper, "The Jackson Herald," beginning on April 4, 1890 relate the following concerning the construction of Unity Lodge:
"The construction of a Masonic temple will be commenced in a few days."
The above mention was included in a series of one paragraph blurbs that described local events that had occurred for that particular week around the township of Jefferson.
Since The Jackson Herald reported incidents and news that concerned several towns located in Jackson County, the news about Jefferson was segregated to a small column of short, one line or one paragraph reports of incidents of interest.
Following the news in Jefferson for a period of several months told the story of the construction and dedication of Unity Lodge as it was relocated to the upstairs building across from the old courthouse.
June 30, 1890:
"Work is in rapid progress upon the new Masonic Temple."
July 18, 1890:
"The new Masonic temple is going up rapidly."
Then, in the July 25, 1890 issue of The Jackson Herald, a more detailed announcement was printed:
"All the Masonic Lodges that are near enough to attend are invited to participate in the laying of the corner stone of Unity Lodge No 36 on Tuesday, the 29th instant, at 3 o'clock p. m.
F. L. Pendergrass, Chmn. Com. on Invitation."
The next issue of The Jackson Herald dated on August 1, 1890 contained two short but revealing articles concerning the cornerstone ceremony performed at Unity Lodge No. 36:
"Brother Stark of the Age, W. A. Quillian, W. W. Jordan, and others from Harmony Grove attended the laying of the Masonic cornerstone here Tuesday."
The Age referred to in the article above was the name of another local newspaper in Jackson County at that time. The town of Harmony Grove is now the present day town known as Commerce, GA, which is about 15 miles north of Jefferson.
Another article in the column describes more details from the cornerstone ceremony:
"The cornerstone of the new Masonic Temple was laid last Tuesday with impressive ceremonies in the presence of a large concourse of people. These exercises were preceded by an excellent address by Dr. Oslin of Gainesville, delivered in the courthouse."
Unfortunately, there are no additional records available that give any further details about the ceremony that day. Information about that time period concerning Unity Lodge No. 36 is scarce. Perhaps future research will provide a better picture of that landmark day in 1890.