Masons from the local Rambo Masonic Lodge 426 joined representatives from the Grand Lodge of Texas to perform and witness the old and traditional masonic ceremony to officially pronounce the new EMS stations 74 and 75 as ‘level’ finished and ready to serve the emergency medical needs of the residentsin North Hays county.
The tradition of cornerstone ceremonies for public buildings, like the EMS building 75 on Ranch Road 12 and EMS building 74 on Heritage Oaks Drive dates back to the early days of the United States.
Until the development of steel frame construction in the 20th century, most buildings were erected by stacking and cementing stone and brick. The foundation stone was the first stone underground at the beginning of the building's Foundation. The cornerstone was the first stone placed above ground level.
It is usually a massive marked stone set in the northeast corner of the building. At the top of the building was the capstone. The ceremonies of placing those stones were under the direction of stonemasons who built the building, although the highest officials of the church and state usually participated.
Declarations giving thanks to God and blessings to those within the building now and in the future remain a part of the ceremony. The ceremony was led by Tommy Griffin, representing the Grand Lodge of Texas.
“As we gather to perform the ceremony of leveling this cornerstone, we invoke the blessing of the Divine Providence upon this undertaking. May this building serve the people in this community for years to come,” Griffin said.
He added “When we level this cornerstone for this EMS facility today we will be performing a ceremony that is more than 300 years old.”
The earliest record of an official Masonic ceremony for a public building was the laying of the foundation stone of the new Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the one ceremony that connects modern Freemasons directly to the craftsmen or stonemasons of the Middle Ages. And it is essentially the same ceremony used to dedicate many of the great cathedrals and buildings in Europe.
References to Cornerstone ceremonies are found in our Bible in both the Old and the New Testament, which further indicates their antiquity from a historical perspective. In 1734, Grandmaster of Pennsylvannia Benjamin Franklin presided at the ceremonies for the Independence Hall in Philadelphia nearly 60 years later George Washington wore the apron of a Master Mason and acting as Grand Master masons in Maryland level the cornerstone of the United States Capitol building on September 18, 1793.
The first Masonic cornerstone in Texas was leveled on February 3, 1838 when Reverend Milton Fowler, grand chaplain of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas, presided over the ceremonies at the first Protestant Church, built west of the Sabine River in St. Augustine, Texas.
Hays county constable for Precinct 4 Ron Hood and Noth Hays EMS director Bob Luddy, Dripping Springs mayor Bill Foulds, and Hays county sheriff Gary Cutler, joined masons from the Dripping Springs Rambo Masonic Lodge and other guests for the ceremony.
The certification of the leveling of the cornerstone today is ceremonial. As the building has been leveled and constructed by certified engineers and builders, yet the tradition of the ceremony is an important tradition in construction that is kept even today.
The ceremony is one of remarks made by freemasons in a sacred ceremony that commemorates the craft of building using the masons tools of the level, plumb, square and trowel. Tools still used today by stone masons who build projects from fences to multi-story buildings.
The ceremony was led by Tommy Griffin, who represented the Grand Lodge of Texas Master Tommy F. Chapman who could not attend. Griffin himself was the grand master of the Grand Lodge in 2008.
The building was designed by RVK Architecture, and built by Flynn Construction with project management provided by AGCM.
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