In 1929, the District Grand Lodge (DGL) of Carpentaria organised an appeal for individual donations towards building the Memorial temple in Cairns. It was to honour those fallen and who sacrificed so much in WWI. It took until 1934 to go ahead and commence building, with a budget not to exceed 12,000 pounds. Tenders were called, and the first stone was laid on Armistice Day in 1934. It wasn’t until 1935 that it was completed and become the headquarters for Freemasonry in Far North Queensland. It is a very impressive building that is two storeys and inside has beautiful wooden floors. The two pillars on the outside were destroyed by cyclone in 1956 and rebuilt in 1957. This had to be done in accordance with Masonic tradition. The pillars are hollow and a copy of all records subsequent to the laying of the foundation stone placed inside one of the pillars. An amazing little part of history, that I hope is not lost in our town.
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