Historical Marker

Masonic Cemetery of Hondo Valley Lodge No. 252, A.F. & A.M.

Historical marker location:
CR 456, Hondo, Texas
( 4 mi. NE on FM 2676, 0.3 mi. S on CR 456)
Marker installed: 1973

In 1859, a decade after Medina County was created, Freemasons and others in the New Fountain Settlement built a 2-story stone church-lodge hall at this site. Hondo Valley Lodge No. 252, A.F. & A.M., was chartered in 1860. The Masonic Cemetery was opened here in 1864 when Junior Warden Rubin Smith was killed by Indians. Masons and members of their families rest here in 22 graves. By an unexplained circumstance, Masonic emblem is upside down on 2 headstones. Hondo Valley Lodge, demised in 1883, was parent of Devine Lodge No. 590 and Hondo City Lodge No. 756, A.F. & A.M. (1973).