Masons Have National Treasures Too

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February 11, 2008 12:05 PM

Members of the secretive Freemasons in Washington, D.C., whose hidden symbols in government buildings are featured in two hit "National Treasure" movies, have found a way to cash in on the popularity of the films by giving their own public tours of the Capitol.

Disney's box-office smash "National Treasure" (Gross $347,000,000) and big-grossing sequel ($212,800,000 plus) "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" are filled with references to the Masons, including the "all-seeing eye" and pyramid that dominate the official Web site. And in both flicks, Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicholas Cage) and his cohorts freely use clues and symbols associated with the secretive group to "unearth hidden history and treasure." Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

The excitement generated by the films has prompted members of the Washington, D.C. Freemasons Lodge to market their own tour of the Capitol www.masonictours.com and to point out the dozens and dozens of Masonic symbols that are interwoven in the history of the city and visible in its monuments. 
Those include:

White House: On Oct. 12, 1792, the Freemasons of Georgetown in a Masonic ceremony laid the cornerstone of the president's house. During the renovation of the White House (1949–1952), President and Freemason Harry S. Truman gave an original White House stone to each Grand Lodge in the United States. "I place in your hands a stone taken from the White House...These evidences of the number of members of the Craft who built the President's official residence so intimately aligns Freemasonry with the formation and the founding of our Government that I believe your Grand Lodge will cherish this link between the Fraternity and the Government of the Nation, of which the White House is a symbol," he said. 

Capitol: On Sept. 18, 1793, President and Freemason George Washington, wearing his Masonic apron, laid in a Masonic ceremony the cornerstone of the United States Capitol. According to to Grand Master of the D.C. Freemasons, Akram Elias, the ancient ceremony of laying the Capitol cornerstone "was of great significance and was conducted to so that of members of Congress should remember edifice that their mission should be the promotion of prosperity, happiness and peace.

Washington Monument: The Egyptian-styled obelisk was designed by Freemason Robert Mills in honor of George Washington. On July 4, 1848, the Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia Benjamin Brown French led the cornerstone laying ceremony in the presence of President Polk and numerous dignitaries with these words to architect Mills, "I now present to you, my Brother, the square, level, and plumb, which are the working tools you are to use in the erection of this monument. You, as a Freemason, know to what they morally allude...Look well to the erection of this National Monument; see that every stone is well squared, and that it is placed in its position both level and plumb, that the noble offering of a nation to commemorate greatness, patriotism, and virtue, may stand until the end of time." 

Lincoln Memorial: The structure was designed by architect and Freemason Henry Bacon.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A very active Freemason. Following Washington, more than a dozen presidents were members of the Masons, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, Harry Truman and Gerald Ford.

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