The Civil War leaves hundreds of widows and orphans. Kentucky Masons envision a Masonic Widows and Orphans Home and Infirmary in Louisville.

Charter and incorporation documents for proposed home are finalized.

During the winter of 1869, in a cornfield amid a blinding snowstorm, the construction of the first Home began and the cornerstone was laid.

North Wing was dedicated after being built in just one year.

The Grand Lodge resolves that 30 cents of every dollar from dues goes to the Endowment Fund until further notice. As a result of this compliance, $5,912.40 was paid to the Treasurer of the Home. This was the first donation the Home received from the Grand Lodge.

The Home opens on April 7 near downtown Louisville on the site of what is now Manual High School. A two and a half acre plot of land was donated by Mr. T.T. Shreve. The land was between First and Second Streets. Minnie Williams was the first child to enter the home.

A school is established for children. Practical industries become part of Home life, teaching residents shoemaking, printing, chair caning, cooking, gardening and canning, while also providing usable commodities.

First widow, Mrs. Mary Fossett, came into the home with her three children.

As construction on the Home was being completed, the entire center of the main building and the towers were demolished by a tornado. No residents were injured. The loss approximated $30,000.

Ms. Amanda Murphy, a former Home girl, is named the Home’s first nurse.

A kindergarten was added in 1896, and a library in 1897.

The Old Mason’s Home, caring for elderly Masons, opens in Shelbyville

To improve conditions for the homeless children who lived in the Home, a new building was added that contained a small chapel, six classrooms and a basement.

A building was created to house the industries of the Home. It was divided into three departments: printing office, shoemaking department and woodwork department.

Influx of children orphaned by World War I and the influenza epidemic overcrowds the Home. Plans commence to raise money for a new home on a larger site.

In October, Million Dollar Committee appointed to collect for the new Home. Past Grand Master Garnett proposed a “committee of five be appointed…to devise plans and carry on a campaign for the purpose of raising a million dollars” to be used by the Board of Directors to devise plans that would address the increasing inadequacy of the Home. It would come to be known as the “Million Dollar Committee.”

The Home received the largest donation at the time. Mr. Robert Tyler, Hickman Lodge No. 761, died on January 13, 1924. He left the entirety of his estate ($313,264) and 327 acres of a Mississippi valley farm, including his home.

The Superintendent and Mrs. Adams took 100 children on a summer vacation to Oakwood Farm in Hickman, Ky.

127 acres is acquired between the Louisville city limits and St. Matthews, and the cornerstone laid for construction of what would become a schoolhouse.

The new Home along Frankfort Avenue, the site of Masonic Homes of Kentucky today, is dedicated and residents move from the old Home. It is designed to be a self-sufficient campus.

On August 15th, 18 buildings were complete and 427 children were brought by bus and car to live in eight cottages. Thirty-five widows were transported to the Original Widows Building, now known as Cottage 9. Original infirmary was built by the St. Johns Day League in 1927 with 24 beds.

Noted landscape architects the Olmsted Brothers complete the site’s master plan.

On April 6th, The “bond fire” occurred when Grand Treasurer James Garnett called for the bonds that had been sold for the completion of the new Home. The destruction of these bonds left the home debt free.

The largest population of children, 632, lives at the Louisville home.

Laura Johnson comes to Masonic Homes in the Fall of 1930, a young woman on a new course.

In July, Past Grand Master John L. Phillips conceived the idea to get a post office at Masonic Home. He went to Washington, DC at his own expense to do so. He became the first postmaster of the 4th class Post Office, as well as superintendent and served for 10 years.

The Home’s on-campus school is closed and children living at the Home attend public schools.

Two wings were added with 10 rooms on each side of the original building. The 20 rooms contained 40 beds. $15,000 was donated ($750/room) to buy furniture for the 20 rooms.

The Print Shop, which served as a training school for young men to become printers, had to change when the children began to attend public schools in 1954. Print Shop continued to grow until it became a Commercial Shop and Print Shop for Masonic Home Journal and Grand Lodge Proceedings.

First Masonic children graduated from Eastern High, Middletown High. By the fall of 1955, there were 98 children and 150 widows at the Home.

Kentucky Masonry had the honor of hosting the annual meeting of Masonic Homes Executives Association on the United States on June 17, 18, and 19. Guests included Kentucky Governor A.B. Happy Chandler, and delegates were greeted from around the country by G.A. Heuser, President of the Old Masons Home and Grand Master Fred B. Layman.

Cottage 8 was renovated with 25 private rooms, dining room, kitchen and living room.  The renovation cost $80,000. It was dedicated on April 21, 1959 for the widows.

First student graduation from Waggener High.

The Rock Creek Riding Club donated two horses.

Cottage 7 was also remodeled for the widows with 32 private rooms. Grandmaster John R. Vinson named the project “Operation Craftsman.” Little banks were given to each lodge for the contributions.

The new barn caught fire. Five thousand bales of alfalfa and the structure gave a loss of $22,000 to the home.

The Home’s 100th anniversary. There were 236 people living there; 67 children and 169 widows. Eighty of the widows were in the infirmary. Grand Master Davie Smith proclaimed that the celebration of the 100th Anniversary would be June 11, 1967 on the Home Grounds. In the evening, the day culminated with the Alumni Reunion Banquet in the Main Dining Room.

On April 3rd, for the second time in our history, a tornado hit Louisville, including the Home. The first time was in 1875, and the center part of the old home on Second Street was destroyed. On April 3rd, the city of Louisville suffered much devastation, and Chenoweth Elementary, built on land purchased from the Masonic Home, was demolished, causing children to finish their year at Crosby Middle School.

Groundbreaking ceremony for Skilled Care “D” Wing. Project to cost $800,000.

Sherry McCaulley was named Activities Director. The department had grown to promote activities for the widows.

The Home’s last child leaves, and it focuses on providing senior care, building the Pillars Assisted Care Center.

Masonic Widows and Orphans Home and Old Mason’s Home merge to form Masonic Homes of Kentucky.

Six of the cottages that housed widows and orphans are renovated into senior apartments. The dining hall is renovated and renamed The Olmsted, becoming a Louisville landmark for events.

Spring Hill Village Retirement Community in Taylor Mill is established.

The Louisville Campus is named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Masonic Home of Louisville opens Sally’s Garden, a memory care neighborhood.

The Pillars Assisted Living Community opens in Shelbyville. The Masonic Home Alumni Association presents A Place Called Home, a bronze sculpture honoring Kentucky Masons, on the Louisville Campus.

Club Olmsted and The Bistro open in the lower level of The Olmsted, featuring a card room, art and craft studio, theater and billiard room.

Renovation at Masonic Home of Shelbyville yields Rehabilitation Center, new dining venue and short-stay accommodations.

The $40 million Sam Swope Care Center opens at Masonic Home of Louisville offering person-centered care in a home environment unlike any other. Rehabilitation and dialysis are also offered.

Sproutlings Pediatric Day Care & Preschool opens on the Louisville Campus, the only program in the region serving medically fragile and typical children.

Miralea Active Lifestyle Community, the region’s only Life Care community, opens on the Louisville Campus.

Masonic Homes and FirstLight HomeCare form a joint venture to offer non-medical in-home care.

Coming soon: Masonic Homes will add The Meadow, a 122-apartment independent living community, and Grove Pointe, a 48-unit assisted living community to its Louisville Campus.