In 1861, the heavy wooden doors of the Wagga Masonic Lodge on Tarcutta Street opened to the Freemasons for the first time - but 160 years later, the club faces a massive hurdle.
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Inside the lodge hangs the trowel that helped to lay the first stones.
It's just one artefact of many that adorn the buildings walls, one that 83-year-old Freemason Rick Priest is hoping will be joined by others lost with time.
"It disappeared for 60 years, might have been 80 years," Mr Priest said, pointing to the trowel.
"Then someone bought it back from overseas, of course their father had it."
Rick has been a Freemason for six decades, following in the footsteps of his grandfathers, uncles and father by joining the lodge in Casino on the NSW north coast.
Rick says the numbers of the group flourished in and around World War I and World War II as returned servicemen would join the group to socialise with other former soldiers.
"The lodge gave them something," Mr Priest said.
"It gave them something to meet together fellas that had been through the same things as they'd been.
"In here, when they all got together, they were all returned soldiers, they could sit and talk to one another."
But now, the number of Freemasons in Wagga has plummeted from 500 to 40, leaving Mr Priest and his clubmen concerned that younger officers aren't as versed in the history of the organisation as some of the more established members, which he believes is leading to the decline in numbers.
Hunting for hidden treasure
The building on Tarcutta Street has hardly changed since its completion 163 years ago, save for a paint job, with the furniture inside as old as the lodge itself.
"Our lodge here, it still got the stuff in it that was there in 1880, we're still using the stuff that was here," Rick said.
He's hoping that by diving back into the ancient group's past will allow these new faces to gain a better understanding of the organisation, and what better way to do so then by re-discovering long forgotten relics.
Rick is pleading for anyone who might have anything that relates to the Freemasons to get in touch with the Wagga lodge so they can add to their antiques collection.
"The stuff that's just turned up has just been absolutely staggering because people have got it in their cupboards at home," Rick said.
"They didn't know what it was and didn't know what it meant, but they knew it belonged to Grandfather."
Jeremy Eager
Originally from Wollongong, Jeremy has made the move to The Daily Advertiser to tell the stories of the Riverina. Got a story to share? Email jeremy.eager@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Originally from Wollongong, Jeremy has made the move to The Daily Advertiser to tell the stories of the Riverina. Got a story to share? Email jeremy.eager@austcommunitymedia.com.au
