Ladonia, Fannin County
Operating under a dispensation issued in 1853, this organization was formally chartered by the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1854. Wesley C. Walker served as the first worshipful master. The membership, like the general population of the area, was comprised of pioneer settlers, many of whom migrated to the new state of Texas from the older states of the South. Early meetings were conducted in a lodge hall at the Rehobeth community (6 mi. SW) in Fannin County. Bethel Lodge relocated to Ladonia in the 1870s. Meetings were first held on the west side of town but were moved here after a fire destroyed the early lodge hall. The group leased meeting space at this location from 1896 until 1912 when it purchased the structure. The building served the organization until members voted to have it razed and replaced with a new hall in 1957. Four years later, Yowell Lodge No. 858 merged with Bethel. Since the ante bellum days of Fannin County, Bethel Lodge No. 134 has played an important role in the development of the area. Its members have included leaders in civic activities and in regional and state Masonic programs.