Name/Title
Badge: Badge belonging to Harold Bor Thornquist of White Pass Lodge No. 113, (c. 1937)Entry/Object ID
2013.M03.42Description
Badge: belonging to Harold Bor Thornquist of White Pass Lodge No. 113. Thornquist was Worshipful Master of White Pass Lodge in 1937. White Pass Lodge is located in Skagway, Alaska, but was formed under the F&AM of Washington when Alaska was under the WAGL jurisdiction. Alaska formed its own Grand Lodge in 1980. At that time, White Pass Lodge became No.1 under Alaska Jurisdiction.
Object came with accompanying information on printed paper. These are kept in the accession file.Research Notes
Research Type
Facebook PostPerson
Chelsea HansenDate
Mar 4, 2025Notes
Posted on the Washington Masonic Library & Museum Facebook Page:
Alaska's First Lodge
Did you know? The Klondike Gold Rush has something to do with the founding of Alaska's first Masonic Lodge.
Gold was discovered by local miners near the Klondike River in the Yukon Territory of Northwest Canada in 1896. This spurred an influx of around 100,000 prospectors from Seattle and San Francisco over the next few years. Skagway, Alaska was a major port through which prospectors entered the region. This population growth was sustained when gold was also discovered in Nome, Alaska in 1899. Two years later, the Grand Lodge of Washington chartered Alaska's first Lodge: White Pass No. 113, located in Skagway. Interest in forming a Masonic Lodge no doubt had something to do with Skagway becoming a Gold Rush boom town. White Pass Lodge No. 113 was redesignated White Pass Lodge No. 1 when the Grand Lodge of Alaska formed in 1980.
This Past Master's Jewel belonged to Swedish born WB Harold Bror Thornquist, who grew up in Seattle and settled in Southern Alaska as a bank manager in the 1930s. His widow later donated this jewel to the Washington Masonic Library & Museum when she relocated back to the Lower 48 after his passing.
Photograph Credit: Broadway Street, Skagway, Alaska 1898.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, HEG137
#Skagway #KlondikeGoldRush #AlaskaHistoryCreate Date
August 24, 2023