Established on November 21, 1846, the Palestine Masonic Lodge became one of the oldest organizations in Anderson County. It was founded by 22 charter members meeting under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Texas and was officially chartered as Lodge No. 31 in 1848. For its first two years, meetings were held in members' homes until a lodge building was erected on the west side of the courthouse square in 1848. In 1850, the Masons built a two-story structure with a school for boys on the first floor and a meeting hall on the second level, and in 1852 they constructed a brick schoolhouse for girls. The third lodge building had three floors, with three separate stores for rental to area merchants on the first floor, the city's first opera house on the second floor, and the lodge meeting room on the third floor. Over the years, the Masons met in many other sites. Among its prominent members was John H. Reagan, U.S. Congressman and first Texas Railroad Commissioner. The lodge has continued to serve the community for more than 150 years.