Like the organization it has housed for nearly 100 years, the John H. Robinson Memorial Masonic Hall is a quiet, strong entity that doesn’t seek attention, but helps the community it calls home.

The Blue Lodge — which the Masons who own and occupy the building call it — is located at 956 ½ Lincoln Way in Downtown Auburn, and is the last remaining building that made up the central square in Auburn.

At the turn of the 20th century the building was a single-story structure that once housed a blacksmith’s shop.

The Masons, the world’s first and largest fraternal organization with more than five million members and centuries of history, bought the building from the Auburn Investment Company for $17,000 in 1913.

After the purchase of the building the local Masons of Eureka Lodge No. 16 went to work on adding two more floors, including its large “Lodge Room,” which is where the secular fraternal organization conducts its business and swears in new members. The Masons moved into the new building in 1916, leaving their previous home where the Historic Courthouse now sits.

The building at 956 ½ Lincoln Way has been home to many businesses on its first floor, including J.C. Penney and Pacific Bell. It currently houses a pawnshop, a photo reproduction business and a used children’s clothing and apparel shop.

Visitors to the Blue Lodge — the Masons use blue throughout the building as the color blue is a symbol for friendship — are first greeted by a long staircase to the second floor of the building. Once on the second floor you are welcomed by the large Lodge Room with its tall ceilings, dark wood chairs and benches and blue carpet.

“There are two things we don’t talk about (in this room). We don’t talk about religion and we don’t talk about politics,” said Eureka Lodge No. 16 Master Bob Murphy as he stood in the Lodge Room. “Because it is forbidden in the Mason meeting room.”

The second floor also offers a large dining area, restaurant-grade kitchen and a lounge area. On the third floor is a women’s lounge and another room housing many of the Eureka Lodge’s artifacts, including books with meeting minutes and history of the local Masonic chapter since 1855.

The building is open to the community for a litany of occasions, from dances and fundraisers to weddings, after-school programs and get-togethers. The Blue Lodge has also been a central piece to the Masons’ core values, which are education, charity and family. The Masons, who believe in “taking good men and making them better,” say they go as far back as to the time of King Solomon. The organization was made into a fraternal group in 1717 with its first grand lodge in London.

The Masons have received their share of controversy over the centuries, accused of being a secretive cult or religion and having disagreements with certain organized religions. However, members maintain that it is an organization based in charity that believes in a higher power, but does not tell its members what to believe and welcomes all religions.

Many of Auburn’s citizens have been members of Eureka Lodge No. 16 — pillars of the business community, doctors, lawyers, policemen and so on.

“When you come here you’re not a lawyer, not a doctor, not a ditch digger — you’re a Mason,” said Bob Spindler, inspector of the 406th Mason District Grand Lodge. “It’s called on the level.”

The Masons are forbidden to recruit members and their meetings are private, but they are very active in the community and are not secretive, according to the Masons. The local Masons have donated more than $8,000 this year to local high school students for scholarships as well as been involved with Peace for Families, Relay for Life and the Kid ID program at Auburn’s Family Night Out and Party in the Park.

As the Masons’ home has gotten older, there have been debates about selling the building and moving to another space in town. But those efforts have been met with resistance as the Masons strive to keep this building and its historical significance in tact.

Refurbishing of the building in Downtown Auburn has been ongoing. The newest project includes a proposed upgrade to the rear of the building later this year. Since upkeep of a structure that still has minimal electricity in some sections can be challenging, keeping this lodge and its history alive is another mission the Masons are committed to.

“This is a historic building, and it means a lot to us,” Spindler said. “It’s been our home for 96 years. It’s important that the history of this organization and the history of Auburn is maintained.”

The Journal’s Andrew DiLuccia can be reached at Andrewd@goldcountrymedia.com

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EUREKA LODGE No. 16 — FACTS

First meeting held: July 12, 1851 at Eagle City (now Michigan Bluff)

First meeting held in Auburn: Nov. 9, 1859

Move to 956 ½ Lincoln Way: 1916

Building stats: Total space is 15,000 square feet; building architecture is Beaux Arts; timber used for construction was milled in the Dutch Flat/Alta area; walls are made of low temperature or soft-fired brick; front face overlay is terra cotta from Gladding McBean in Lincoln; segments of the front of the building are constructed from locally-quarried granite.

Building honors: In 1990 the lodge was dedicated to distinguished Mason and Auburn community member John H. Robinson, being renamed John H. Robinson Memorial Hall.

• Native Sons of the Golden West dedicated the lodge as “Point of Historical Significance” on Sept. 12, 1998.

•Building is last remaining of the original central square in Auburn.

•Members: 220

• More information: www.auburnmason.com