Wilcox County's 'Treasures of the Old South' Tour of Homes was a real treat for history lovers

Dale Masonic Lodge in Camden, Alabama.

Those of you who missed the Wilcox Historical Society’s “Treasures of the Old South” Tour of Homes on Saturday missed a real treat.

This year’s tour, which attracted nearly 900 attendees, featured 13 stops, including the Beck-Miller Law Office, the Old Wilcox County Jail, the Bell-Moore House, the Bethea-Strother-Stewart House, the Jones-McIntosh-Hicks House, Old St. Mary’s Church, the Sterrett McWilliams House, the Capell House, Black Belt Treasures, Coast to Coast Hardware, the Old Shoe Shop Museum, Dale Lodge No. 25 and the Wilcox Female Institute.

Each one of these sites was unique in its own way and was a pleasure to visit, but the highlight of the tour for me personally was the Masonic hall on Clifton Street. My wife and young son accompanied me on the tour and as we approached this stately old building, we tried to imagine what the scene looked like when Yankee soldiers camped out on the lodge grounds during the Civil War. Later inside, we saw a photo of how different the grounds looked years and years ago when large trees provided the property with ample shade.

I’d been by this building more times than I can remember, but I’d never actually been inside until Saturday. When we entered the ground floor, dozens of people were enjoying lunch prepared by members of the lodge. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the second floor of the lodge was open to visitors, and we couldn’t resist checking out a part of the building that’s normally off limits to the uninitiated.

At the top of the narrow stairs leading up to the lodge meeting room, my son got a big kick out of the old swords on display there. Also on display were Masonic aprons and the book that lodge members sign before entering regular meetings of the lodge. Not far from there was a table piled high with blindfolds and curious lengths of rope.

The lodge room itself seemed to radiate history. Standing there before the alter in the center of the room, one was left to wonder just how many prominent Freemasons had attended lodge in this very room. Looking down upon it all, no doubt as he has for many years, was an old portrait of George Washington, the first U.S. President and one of the most important Freemasons in American history.

According to the tour brochure, prepared by the Wilcox Historical Society, Dale Lodge was founded in Dale Town (now called Prairie Bluff) in 1827. The lodge eventually moved to the county seat of Camden and the current Masonic hall was built in 1848. George Lynch and William T. Mathews, local builders, are credited with the building’s design and construction.

In the end, hats off to everyone who had a hand in making Saturday’s Tour of Homes a big success. The organizers of this event really outdid themselves and are to be highly commended for their efforts. I know that I speak for a lot of people, especially those who attended Saturday’s event, when I say that I can hardly wait for next year’s Tour of Homes.