our lodge history

Our Lodge was named for Honorable Judge William H. Upton.  William H. Upton was a son of William Upton, who was a Chief Justice of Oregon and Comptroller of the United States Treasury under President Hayes. William H. Upton was the sixth of eleven children. He graduated from Yale College in 1877, spent three years in the Navy Department at Washington DC, and afterward graduated with honors from the George Washington University Law School. Mr. Upton came to Walla Walla, Washington, in 1880 to practice law. In 1888 he became a member of the Territorial Legislature and in 1889, and again in 1892, he was elected Superior Judge of Walla Walla and Franklin counties.
 

Judge Upton was Master of Blue Mountain Lodge, No. 13, F. & A. M., of Walla Walla in 1892. He was known as a Masonic scholar, becoming Grand Master of the MW Grand Lodge of Washington in 1898. Judge Upton made many significant contributions to Masonry; his most significant being his committee report of 1897 on Black Masonry and his efforts as Grand Master passing a resolution recognizing Prince Hall Masons in the State of Washington, however most of the other white Grand Lodges in the United States and Canada withdrew Masonic relations with the Grand Lodge of Washington until the resolution was repealed. The resolution was reluctantly rescinded in June 1899. William H. Upton continued to write on this subject with conviction. His work on Black Masonry was an important chapter in Masonic history. He died on November 3, 1906. Upton's sincere interest was demonstrated by a provision in his will that no monument should be erected over his grave until “both colored and white Masons could stand over it as brothers”. In June 1990 the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington passed a resolution recognizing the Prince Hall Grand Lodge and William. H. Upton’s monument now displays the Masonic emblem.
 

Charleston Lodge #269 was chartered in 1926 and was established in Bremerton. It operated out of the same Temple as Bremerton Lodge #117 and Upton Lodge #206. Like those two lodges, Charleston Lodge was heavily manned by Navy and Civilians personnel working at the nearby Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and other local Navy facilities. In an act of Masonic Charity, Charleston Lodge merged with the faltering Wm H. Upton Naval & Military Lodge #206 that was having difficulty finding officers to operate the Lodge. In 1996 Charleston merged with Upton and as is traditionally the case, the Lodge with the lowest number continues. Thus Lodge #206 now has traditions and history from two parents.