Craft Masonry in Orange and Rockland Counties, New York

Directly across the street from the McGarrah Inn was Smith’s home (still used by his descendants), whose outlaw son Claudius
remained an English Tory. Loyal to the king during the war, Claudius was executed in 1778, according to records and confirmed by
The Village of Monroe. This pictorial history was published in 1994 by the Monroe Historical Society to celebrate the community’s
centennial. Monroe recorded 6,632 residents that year.
In 1807 private funding provided for the creation of the Orange Turnpike for stagecoach travel between New York City and Albany
along what had been an Indian trail.
“People traveled then on horseback, or by private conveyance, or by stagecoach, which had its regular routes, carrying, besides
passengers, the United States mail,” the Rev. Daniel Niles Freeland wrote in 1898 in Chronicles of Monroe in the Olden Time.
“Starting from Hoboken in the morning, travelers would find it convenient to rest, after fifty miles, at Monroe Village; hence the
importance of its Inns.
“Here, the old stage would rumble up with the sound of a bugle, and while the obsequious landlord would help out the dust-covered
passenger, boots would snatch bandbox and bundle, horses would be changed, the mails would be delivered and the whole place
be agog,” Rev. Freeland wrote in his 19th century chronicle.
“The Monroe Hotel was first kept by DeWitt McGarrah; afterwards, at the newer site, by John Goff (existing building, John McGarrah
being a subsequent owner),” Rev. Freeland’s account reads.
An original stone bridge dating to the 1800s, where the cavalry once camped during the Revolutionary War (and near the old dam),
is still used. It is located just one-half block from the John McGarrah Stagecoach Inn Historical Site, which MW Grand Master
Bidnick will dedicate on April 6th.
The Inn was built from local trees cut from the dense forests that still make Monroe a beautiful village today. Planks in the flooring of
some rooms still reveal the crude cuts of the loggers.
“We did an archeological dig and couldn’t find anything that was older than about 1790,” says W Bro. Claude Horstman, president of
the Cornerstone Masonic Historical Society, which spearheaded the local Lodge in taking over the commanding building, once the
center of community life in Monroe. It’s likely that additional, planned archeological digs will uncover items that go back much
further. Within blocks of the Masonic McGarrah building, other homes were built during the Revolutionary War.
“The original Inn was much smaller, about 28’ x 36’, but was expanded by McGarrah, who was a close friend of Archibald Smith, the
first Master of Cornerstone 231,” says Horstman, who has dug deep into the history of the famous building.
Originally, the small building was known as Goff’s Tavern and was rumored to have secret tunnels to which the local Englishsympathizing
Tories would repair for escape from the Patriots. Later, runaway slaves allegedly used them during the Civil War. So
far, those tunnels haven’t been confirmed, but additional archeological digs are planned.
“McGarrah’s was the biggest thing in town at the time (late 1700s). The old tavern was the center of the community,” Rev. Freeland
wrote in 1898.
“Monroe in its early history was the scene of no little litigation, for the reason that the boundaries of the Patent and the subdivisions
of it were ill-defined and poorly surveyed. Lines overlapped, monument trees and stones, the simple landmarks, were likely removed
innocently. With poor fences, cattle would stray and trespass and so enhance the causes of dispute,” Rev. Freeland reported.
Trials for those lawsuits were usually held at the John McGarrah Stagecoach Inn. “It was like the mini-mall of the 17th and 18th
centuries. Merchants came through and sold their wares in the building’s large rooms. Ministers were circuit riders who moved from
village to village to conduct services, including at McGarrah’s,” Horstman explained.
“The Masons paid the rent, and it was very prestigious to have the Masons at your place. McGarrah added the [unique, third-floor
Lodge room] when he enlarged the tavern [into the majestic building that now exists]. You can tell the third floor was designed
specifically for a Masonic Lodge room because it has a curved, vaulted ceiling, which was very conducive to Masonic Lodges of that
era. So, we have [a Lodge room] that is a real example of Masonic architecture of that old period in American history.
We are using it right now because we are renovating the entire building. We were meeting in the grand ballroom on the second
floor, but it has been completely redone,” Horstman said.
When the Erie Railroad came to Monroe in 1841, the center of the village moved from the area around John McGarrah’s
Stagecoach Inn to a few blocks north where the main street- -Lake Street--is now located. The hamlet of Monroe was incorporated
as a village by a vote in 1894.
In the early days, the Monroe Cheese Factory produced Liederkranz cheese in 1873 just one block from the current Masonic
Historical Site. In 1917 Velveeta cheese was invented by that company. Its original factory building still exists and is now used as
an apartment building.
About three years ago the Cornerstone Masonic Historical Society undertook an archeological dig, performed by Stu Tray, who did
the dig at the DeWint House in Tappan, New York, where George Washington once stayed. “We found jewelry, marble and old
coins,” Horstman explained; “but also a zillion clams. They were big on the menu at John McGarrah’s and will also be big on our
menu on April 6th for the dedication of this Masonic historical site. Of course, we also found a lot of deer bones and those of other
local animals,” Horstman added.
The site is not haunted, as in Halloween, but many brethren – including this journalist – have experienced several paranormal
phenomena. One night in 2005 while sleeping at 3 a.m. on the second floor, I heard three distinct loud knocks, as in our Ritual, but
coming from outside the building. Also that night, lights in the third floor Lodge room were mysteriously turned on. And, I heard the
distinctive pattern of Morse code in my room the next night (the Erie Railroad through Monroe in 1851 had provided the telegraph
with lines). Though I saw no images of deceased people walking about, other Brothers have. University specialists assure the Lodge
that there is nothing to fear in the building.
23