Orange Grove Lodge #293 F. & A. M. was granted dispensation March 19, 1888 by then Grand Master Hiram Newton Rucker of the Grand Lodge of California. The first “Master” of the Lodge was Isaac Lea Collins. The first Chartered Meeting of the lodge was November 5, 1889. The first Hall of Orange Grove Lodge was a room on the second floor of the Bank building on the North-East corner of the Plaza, preliminary and regular meetings were held in that location from June 9, 1887 thru May 1901. From June 1901 thru September 1906 the Lodge rented the second floor of the Odd Fellows Building at 110 East Chapman. From October 1906 thru March 1923 rented the second Floor of the Edwards Building on the north-east corner of the Plaza. Brother Edwards was a member of the Lodge and with plans created by the Lodge constructed the second floor as a “Hall” or “Lodge Room”. On April 11, 1922 the Lodge purchased the Campbell Opera House, which was built in 1912, the first Stated Meeting held in this building was on April 10, 1923, officially dedicated on June 19,1923 and is the location in which we continue to meet to this day.

Orange Grove Lodge meets under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of California F. & A. M. which was created by representatives of five Lodges in April of 1850. Four of these are still active: California No. 1 of San Francisco (formerly California No. 13 of the District of Columbia), Western Star No. 2 of Shasta (formerly Western Star No. 98 of Missouri), Tehama No. 3 of Sacramento (formerly Connecticut No. 75 of Connecticut), and Sublime-Benicia No. 5 of Benicia (formerly Benicia Lodge of Louisiana). The fifth of this group was known as “Jennings” or “Berryman” Lodge of New Jersey, but had to give up their Charter after incurring insurmountable debts dispensing relief to the needy. The delegates met and constituted California’s Grand Lodge five months before California was admitted to the Union on or about April 17-19 on the third floor of the "Red House" at the southeast corner of "J" and 5th Streets in Sacramento. The first “Grand Master” was Jonathan D. Stevenson, a lawyer from San Francisco and member of California Lodge No. 1.

This information and much more can be found in the book “One Hundred Years in Retrospect” that was commissioned and written in 1988 to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of our Lodge)