2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26104672D

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 63

Offered January 20, 2026

Commending the Masons' Hall Historic Preservation Foundation.

—————

Patron—Fowler

—————

WHEREAS, the Masons' Hall Historic Preservation Foundation has greatly served the community by preserving Masons' Hall in Richmond and publicly interpreting its profound significance to the history of the United States, the Commonwealth, and the City of Richmond; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia General Assembly, supporting Thomas Jefferson's proposal, voted to move the Capitol of the Commonwealth to Richmond in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War; and

WHEREAS, shortly after the Treaty of Paris officially ended the American Revolutionary War, the cornerstone of the current Virginia State Capitol building was laid on August 18, 1785, in a Masonic ceremony conducted by Richmond Lodge No. 3 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; and

WHEREAS, just two months later, on October 12, 1785, the same Masons laid the cornerstone for the historic Masons' Hall in Richmond's Shockoe Bottom, located at 1807 East Franklin Street; and

WHEREAS, the construction of Masons' Hall was led by Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia and the future first attorney general of the United States, and John Marshall, the future Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, Masons' Hall provided the only public meeting space for Richmond's 1,500 residents, along with space for the Henrico County Courthouse, in the post-revolutionary Federal Period; and

WHEREAS, Richmond Randolph Lodge No. 19 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, named in honor of Governor Edmund Randolph, was chartered in Masons' Hall on October 29, 1787, and has met there continuously to this day; and

WHEREAS, Masons' Hall is recognized as one of only six remaining 18th century buildings in Richmond along with the Virginia State Capitol, the John Marshall House, the Old Stone House, St. John's Church, and the Woodward House; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of its historical and architectural significance, Masons' Hall is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places; and

WHEREAS, the Masons' Hall Historic Preservation Foundation was established in recent years to spearhead preservation and public education efforts at Masons' Hall, ensuring that its importance to the history of the United States, the Commonwealth, and the City of Richmond would be appreciated for generations to come; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Masons' Hall Historic Preservation Foundation for its legacy of service in pursuit of its mission; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Masons' Hall Historic Preservation Foundation as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for the foundation's contributions to historical preservation in the Commonwealth.