Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library

The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library in Lexington tells the story of Freemasonry within the larger sweep of American history. Founded in 1975 by the Scottish Rite Freemasons of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, it collects, preserves and interprets the history of American Freemasonry and fraternalism, a focus the museum describes as unique in the nation. Its exhibitions draw on its collections and on broader American history.

Exhibitions have included Mapping Change in North America 1755-1834, which uses American, British, French and German maps to show how land claims, conflict and settlement shaped the borders of states and countries and affected land inhabited by Indigenous peoples. Another show, Looking Back, Moving Forward, marked fifty years of collecting. Researchers can use the Van Gorden-Williams Library and Archives, which holds one of the world’s most comprehensive collections on American Freemasonry.

What to Know

• Admission to both the museum and the library is free.
• The library holds more than 65,000 books and 1,600 serial titles.
• Archives cover about 2,000 cubic feet of material on Freemasonry, fraternalism and American history.
• The museum sits in Lexington, the town known for the opening battle of the American Revolution.