Scholarships & Lamar Award

For generations, Caddo Grove Masonic Lodge #352 has been deeply invested in the future of our local youth. Through our annual scholarship program, the Lodge awards significant financial assistance—dedicating up to $10,000 in a single year—to help graduating high school seniors from Joshua ISD and Godley ISD pursue higher education. Individual scholarships of up to $2,500 provide crucial relief for students enrolling in accredited colleges, universities, or technical trade schools. While family Masonic affiliation is welcomed, it is not a requirement to apply; instead, Caddo Grove proudly opens this opportunity to all local seniors who demonstrate strong merit, moral character, and financial need.

This deep-rooted support also extends to agricultural education. Since 1948, when the Lodge began supporting the FFA program at the Masonic Home and School in Fort Worth, our dedication has grown to encompass today's local Joshua and Godley FFA chapters. Yearly, Caddo Grove holds a signature fundraiser to support these important student programs. As the FFA has expanded over the decades to include various agricultural disciplines centered on leadership and personal growth, it continues to perfectly reflect the Masons' long-standing commitment to community values, morals, and personal development.

The robust public education system enjoyed by Texans today was built, in large part, through the influential efforts of Texas Freemasons. Operating both as visionary individuals and as a united fraternity, Masons laid the groundwork for public learning across the state. This support became systemic in 1848 when the Grand Lodge of Texas appropriated ten percent of its revenue to public education, a tradition of support that the Grand Lodge of Texas proudly maintained until 1876, when the State of Texas took over funding of public schools.

Foremost among these leaders was Mirabeau B. Lamar, a Freemason and the second President of the Republic of Texas. Celebrated as the founder of Texas Public Schools, Lamar famously declared, "The cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy"—a philosophy that now serves as the motto for The University of Texas.

Across the early Texas frontier, Masonic architecture directly supported this vision. Lodges were typically constructed as two-story buildings, placing the Masonic hall upstairs and a public schoolroom downstairs. Masons did not just provide the physical space; they also financed school operations and paid teacher salaries. Caddo Grove Lodge was a proud participant in this movement, originally meeting on the top floor of the local public school, the Caddo Grove Seminary.