EMPIRE, COLORADO
Dispensation for the organization of Empire Lodge at Empire City, Clear Creek County was issued November 28th, 1864 by M. W. Bro. Archie J. Van Deren.
Its charter was granted at the Fifth Annual Communication on November 6th, 1865. The officers elected were installed in Grand Lodge by Past Grand Master Henry M. Teller. They were Andrew Mason, Worshipful Master; H. A. Haskins, Senior Warden; and John S. Jones as proxy for J. Mullen.
At this Grand Lodge session, Bro. Mason, who had been elected Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master in December, 1861, was also elected and installed as Grand Master of Masons of Colorado.
Fifteeen Master Masons and three Fellowcrafts were reported as members. The lodge had initiated five, passed six, raised three, and had rejected one.
The following year it reported it had admitted two, initiated 11, passed 11, raised 12, and rejected two. Its membership had risen to 28, all of whom but one lived in Colorado Territory despite the shifting living habits of the miners.
