For Researchers: Sources on Island City Lodge No. 586

Link: Back to Island City 586 Article

This page gathers the principal sources used in preparing our article on Island City Lodge No. 586 and its Jackson Avenue temple. It is intended for local historians, Masonic researchers, writers, descendants, and anyone interested in the institutional and civic history of Long Island City, Court Square, and Queens Freemasonry.

Research Focus

This research cluster centers on: the founding of Island City Lodge No. 586 in 1865–1866, its early meeting places in Hunter’s Point, the construction and public life of its Jackson Avenue Masonic Temple, its later movement to Mizpah Temple, and its place in the merger lineage that led to Advance Service Mizpah Lodge No. 586.

Core Primary and Institutional Sources

Island City Lodge No. 586, “Highlights in History of Island City.” Typescript lodge history compiled for the 75th anniversary, June 18, 1941.

Why it matters:

This is the central lodge-history document for Island City. It preserves the affiliation agreement background, early meeting places, officer names, charitable acts, temple construction details, anecdotal history, long-service brethren, and selected ceremonial participation.

Key topics covered:

Affiliation Agreement, May 2, 1865 Dispensation, June 18, 1865 Charter, June 18, 1866 Ferry-house, office, carpenter shop, Smithsonian Hall Temple project, Jackson Avenue Bayonne rescue anecdote Family raising family stories Snedeker and 50-year medal 75th anniversary retrospective view

Brooklyn Eagle. “Cornerstone Laying with Simple Ceremony: Long Island City Masons Celebrate the Building of New Temple.” September 8, 1906, 5.

Why it matters:

This is the best contemporary newspaper account of the cornerstone ceremony and architectural program of the temple.

Key details confirmed:

Date and purpose of ceremony Grand Master Townsend Scudder’s role Procession from Smithsonian Hall Temple dimensions and features Cost estimate Building committee references

New York Public Library, Milstein Division. Photograph and caption records relating to the Queens County Courthouse and Masonic Temple, Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, ca. 1930s.

Why it matters: Useful for documenting the later civic afterlife of the Masonic building, especially its association with the courthouse expansion period.

Best used for: courthouse overlap site comparison visual context for Court Square / Jackson Avenue

Lineage and Consolidation Sources

AstoriaMasons.org. Internal lodge lineage materials and consolidation summaries. Accessed [insert date].

Why it matters: These records connect Island City Lodge to the later mergers with Mizpah, Advance, and Service City Geba, culminating in Advance Service Mizpah Lodge No. 586.

Useful for: 1938 move into Mizpah Temple 1987 Island City/Mizpah consolidation 1993 merger with Advance 2018 merger with Service City Geba

Advance Service Mizpah Lodge No. 586. “Lodge Lineage Article for Grand Lodge Draft, 2nd Draft.” Unpublished internal compilation.

Why it matters: Provides interpretive framing for how multiple Queens and Manhattan lodge traditions came to be gathered into one present-day body.

Supplementary Research Notes

On dates: Writers should distinguish between: 1865 as the year of organization under dispensation and the affiliation agreement 1866 as the year of formal charter and official numbering as Lodge No. 586

On the temple address: Historic references place the temple at 246 Jackson Avenue or nearby descriptions on the south side of Jackson Avenue between Pearson and Annabel Streets. Due to later renumbering and redevelopment, the site is now generally associated with the Court Square / 25-10 area.

On courthouse use: This tradition is strong in lodge memory and supported by photo-caption evidence, but future scholarly expansion would benefit from municipal or court administrative records.

On theater use: The connection to the Idle Hour Theater is valuable and worth preserving, but ideally should be paired with a theater-history source if published in a formal academic venue.

Chicago-Style Bibliography

Advance Service Mizpah Lodge No. 586. “Lodge Lineage Article for Grand Lodge Draft, 2nd Draft.” Unpublished internal compilation.

AstoriaMasons.org. Internal lodge lineage materials and consolidation summaries. Accessed [insert date].

Brooklyn Eagle. “Cornerstone Laying with Simple Ceremony: Long Island City Masons Celebrate the Building of New Temple.” September 8, 1906, 5.

Island City Lodge No. 586. “Highlights in History of Island City.” Typescript lodge history, 75th anniversary compilation, June 18, 1941.

New York Public Library, Milstein Division. Photograph and caption records relating to the Queens County Courthouse and Masonic Temple, Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, ca. 1930s.

Article Footnotes:

1. Island City Lodge No. 586, “Highlights in History of Island City,” typescript lodge history, 75th anniversary compilation, June 18, 1941.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Brooklyn Eagle, “Cornerstone Laying with Simple Ceremony: Long Island City Masons Celebrate the Building of New Temple,” September 8, 1906, 5.
5. New York Public Library, Milstein Division, photograph and caption records relating to the Queens County Courthouse and Masonic Temple, Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, ca. 1930s.
6. AstoriaMasons.org, internal lodge lineage materials and consolidation summaries, accessed [insert date].
7. Island City Lodge No. 586, “Highlights in History of Island City.”
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. Brooklyn Eagle, September 8, 1906.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Ibid.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. Island City Lodge No. 586, “Highlights in History of Island City.”
35. New York Public Library, Milstein Division, photograph and caption records, ca. 1930s.
36. [Use local theater or building-use source if you add one.]
37. Ibid.
38. New York Public Library, Milstein Division, photograph and caption records, ca. 1930s.
39. Ibid.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid.
42. Advance Service Mizpah Lodge No. 586, “Lodge Lineage Article for Grand Lodge Draft, 2nd Draft,” unpublished internal compilation.
43. Island City Lodge No. 586, “Highlights in History of Island City.”
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid.
50. Ibid.
51. Ibid.
52. Ibid.
53. Ibid.
54. AstoriaMasons.org, internal lodge lineage materials and consolidation summaries.
55. Ibid.
56. Ibid.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. Advance Service Mizpah Lodge No. 586, “Lodge Lineage Article.”
60. AstoriaMasons.org, internal lodge lineage materials and consolidation summaries.
61. New York Public Library, Milstein Division, photograph and caption records, ca. 1930s.
62. Advance Service Mizpah Lodge No. 586, “Lodge Lineage Article.”
63. Island City Lodge No. 586, “Highlights in History of Island City.”