Masonic Hall, Old Saybrook (1830)

The building at 52 Old Post Road in Old Saybrook was built in the 1830s and began as a one-story carpenters workshop used by the builders of the First Church of Christ on Main Street. When the church was completed, the building was moved from the town green to a site on Old Boston Post Road and a second story was added. For a time, Frederick Kirtland had a shoe store in the building. In its second location, the building stood east of where Thomas C. Acton would build a library in 1873. Acton, who had bought the house across the street, also acquired the former church workshop in 1870 and at some point thereafter it was moved to its current location west of the library. In 1903, Acton rented the building to the Masons of Siloam Lodge No. 32. In December, 1907 he sold the building and it was formally purchased by the Masons in February, 1908. The facade of the Masonic Hall has been altered over the years. In the early twentieth century, there was little decoration, but at some point afterwards it was elaborately ornamented with pilasters, dentil moldings and a fan light in the gable. Most of this ornamentation has since been removed (the street number was also changed from 50 to 52). In 2005, Siloam Lodge No. 32 merged with Trinity-Mt. Olive Lodge No. 43 and Pythagoras Lodge No. 45 to form Estuary Lodge No. 43.