                     Formation 1782     
   In the year of 1782, Robert Adam, William Hunter Jr., John 
Allison, Peter Dow, Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick and other prominent 
Alexadria residents, and members of the Masonic Fraternity, took 
steps to organize a  Masonic lodge in Alexandria.
       
The Grand Lodge of Virginia being dormant from December 1780 
until November 1784, due to its moving from Williamsburg to 
Richmond. A petition for a warrant was presented to the 
Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennyslvania at its quarterly 
comunication held in Philadelphia, September 2, 1782 and was 
ordered to lie over to the next regular communication of the 
Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge, convened on the 3rd of February 
1783.  Brother Robert Adam was then installed as Master of No 39, 
to be held in the borough of Alexandria, in Fairfax County, 
Virginia. The first meeting of the lodge, for organization, was 
held on the 25th of February 1783, and the first election of 
Officers under the Pennsylvania Warrant was held on the 21st of 
December 1783, at which time the following persons were duly 
elected.
      
Robert Adam  -  Worshipful Master
Robert McCrea -  Senior Warden
Elishia C. Dick  -  Junior Warden
William Herbert  -  Secretary
William Ramsey  -  Treasurer

  A circular letter from the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 
received February 23,1787, informed the lodge that the Grand 
Lodge of Pennsylvania had been established independently of Great 
Britain and requested the return of the warrant issued to No 39, 
February 3, 1783, in order to make its renewal under the new 
organization.

Desiring to be governed in accordance with its usages of Masonry 
in determiming the course to be pursued, it was ordered at this 
meeting,"That Col. Michael Ryan, a member of the lodge, be 
requested to inquire of James Mercer, Esq. upon what principle he 
was appointed Grand Master of the different lodges in Virginia".     
On the 3rd. of March following, Col. Ryan reported that he had 
made the necessary inquiry of Honorable James Mercer, Grand 
Master, and was "happy to report that the Grand Lodge of Virginia 
is constitutionally appointed consistent with the strictest rules 
of Masonry, and independently of all foreign jurisdiction. That 
in its formation the Grand Lodge had not, in any one instance, 
deviated from the ancient landmarks of Masonry; and that our 
dependence on a Grand Lodge at Richamond, to which we may 
conveniently send representatives, will be more natural than our 
present situation."

At this meeting, the lodge decided that it would be more 
convenient for it to work under the authority of the Grand Lodge 
of Virginia, than under that of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, 
and having resolved to make application to the Grand Lodge of 
Virginia for a charter, recommended the following persons for 
appointment by the Grand Lodge:
George Washington,Esq.  Master
Robert McCrea  -  Deputy Master
William Hunter,Jr.  -  Senior Warden
John Allison  -  Junior Warden

To Messrs. Robert McCrea, William Hunter, Jr., John Allison and 
William H. Powel was assigned the duty of waiting upon General 
Washington to ascertain whether it would be agreeable to him to 
be named in the charter. General Washington having given his 
consent, William Hunter,Jr., and John Allison made application to 
the Grand Lodge at Richomnd for the charter.

At the next regular communication of the Grand Lodge (held at 
Masons Hall in the City of Richmond), the petition of this lodge 
was granted, and the registry number changed from No.39 of 
Pennsylvania to No.22 of Virginia. The new charter was issued by 
the Grand Lodge of Virginia and signed by Edmund Randolph, Grand 
Master.

Thus it will be seen that Washington became the Charter Master of 
Lodge No. 22 under the Virginia jurisdiction, April 28, 1788, 
serving as such until December 20 following, as the extract from 
the minutes of that date shows, he was unanimously elected to 
succeed himself for the full term, serving in all twenty months.

For nearly twenty years the lodge had no permanent home and held 
its assemblies in Taverns  of the town, as a rule entirely 
unsuitable for such meetings.

The erection of a building to be used exclusively for Masonic 
purposes first engaged the attention of the lodge in 1785, and in 
the following year application was made to the City Council for 
permission to erect a hall over the Market Building. A similar 
petition was submitted to the same body in 1800 and having met 
with their approval and a sufficient sum having been raised for 
that purpose. The first Temple was erected by the lodge on the 
16th of September 1802, and was occupied by the fraternity until 
the 19th of May 1871, nearly 70 years, when it was destroyed by 
fire.

Most of the old furniture, all of the records, the original 
painting of Washingtn by Williams, the Washington Chair often 
called the Master's Chair, and a number of relics and paintings 
were saved from the ruin, but some invaluable relics were lost or 
destroyed. The building and furniture were insured for the small 
sum of $2,600.00 of which the sum of $2,400.00 was paid to the 
trustees for the benefit of the lodge.

With this small sum as a nucleus, on the 25th of May 1871, the 
loge adopted a resolution to rebuild. the new and elegant 
building erected by the lodge on the site of the old hall was an 
ornament to the City, and a monument of the public spirit and 
Masonic zeal of its members, The new lodge hall was dedicated on 
February 23, 1874 by W.H.Lambert, Esq., Grand Master of Masons in 
Virginia. The Lodge occupied the 3rd and 4th floors for its lodge 
hall and museum, The city Fathers occupied the 1st and 2nd 
floors.

After the death of Washington, it was the desire of the lodge 
that its name be changed, so as to embrace the name of 
"Washington". Application was made to the Grand Lodge of Virginia 
and on the 9th day of December 1805, the name was changed to 
Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22.

The lodge continued to hold its meetings in the new lodge hall 
until their transfer to the George Washington Masonic National 
Memorial in 1944.

Alexandria-Washington Lodge No.22 has furnished the following 
Grand Masters in Virginia:
William H. Lambert-----1873-1874
Kosciusko Kemper ------1906-1907
Charles H. Callahan----1924-1926
Robert South Barrett---1942-1943
Donald M. Robey--------1987-1988
