Maine Fraternal Lodges

About Fraternal Organizations in Maine

A deep look at the history, oldest lodges, membership process, and notable members of fraternal organizations across Maine.

History of Fraternal Organizations in Maine

Maine has a fraternal tradition as long as its coastline and almost as deep as its harbors. Freemasonry arrived in the District of Maine when it was still part of Massachusetts; Portland Lodge No. 1, chartered in 1762 under the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, predates Maine statehood by 58 years and is among the oldest Masonic lodges in the United States. When Maine became a state in 1820, the Grand Lodge of Maine was constituted soon after, and Maine Masons quickly built a network that reached every river town, mill town, and seaport in the state.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows arrived in the 1840s and proved a perfect fit for Maine's working-class villages: a small-dues mutual-aid society that paid sick benefits and burial costs to fishermen, mill hands, and farmers who had no other safety net. Maine became one of the IOOF's strongest per-capita states, with hundreds of lodges scattered along the coast and inland to the Aroostook potato country. The Patrons of Husbandry — the Grange — followed in the 1870s and built more than 400 local Granges across rural Maine, hosting potluck suppers, agricultural lectures, and the only consistent social life in many isolated communities. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks moved into Maine in the 1890s and chartered Portland Elks Lodge No.

188 in 1891, followed quickly by lodges in Bangor, Lewiston, Biddeford-Saco, Rockland, Waterville, and Augusta. The Loyal Order of Moose, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Woodmen of the World, and the Knights of Pythias all built smaller but durable footprints. Knights of Columbus came to Maine via the Franco-American Catholic mill towns, with Lewiston, Biddeford, Waterville, and Auburn anchoring strong councils. Today Maine fraternalism is quieter than it was in 1910, but the buildings are still there and the IOOF and Grange traditions persist in rural towns where there is little else.

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Maine

Portland Elks Lodge No. 188 was instituted in 1891, the first BPOE lodge north of Boston. Its members were drawn from the Portland waterfront economy of shipping, brokerage, banking, and the small manufacturing concerns that lined the Fore River. The Portland clubhouse, which moved several times over the decades, was a downtown landmark for most of the twentieth century, hosting an annual Flag Day ceremony, a popular Lobster Bake, and a steady program of charitable dinners.

Bangor Elks Lodge No. 244, chartered shortly after Portland, served the Penobscot River lumber and shipping economy and built strong ties to the Bangor business community. Lewiston Elks Lodge No. 371 became a hub for the largely Franco-American mill workforce, although its membership was always more diverse than Lewiston's wider sectarian divide might have suggested.

Other Maine Elks lodges arose in Augusta, Waterville, Biddeford-Saco, Rockland, Rumford, Old Town, Calais, Caribou, Houlton, and Sanford-Springvale. Maine Elks have a long tradition of supporting the Elks National Foundation scholarships and the state's Major Project, which provides therapy services for Maine children with disabilities. Hoop Shoot, Drug Awareness, and veterans-service programs are visible at school events and county fairs across the state, and several Maine lodges run highly regarded summer programs at Camp Lyle Hicks and other facilities. The Maine State Elks Association's annual convention, rotating among the larger lodges, remains one of the state's significant fraternal gatherings.

Portland 188's lobster bakes and Bangor 244's salmon dinners are among the longer-running public Elks events in the country, and Rockland's lodge ties closely to the city's annual Maine Lobster Festival each summer. Maine's coastal lodges have historically anchored an active Elks Boat program offering veterans and people with disabilities free trips on Casco Bay and Penobscot Bay.

Loyal Order of Moose in Maine

The Loyal Order of Moose entered Maine in the early twentieth century, with lodges in Portland, Bangor, Lewiston, Auburn, Augusta, Waterville, Biddeford, Brunswick, Sanford, Calais, Belfast, and a string of smaller mill and mining towns. The Mooseheart child-care campus in Illinois was a powerful selling point in Maine, where the timber, paper, fishing, and quarrying industries left a steady stream of widows and orphans. Maine paper towns like Rumford, Millinocket, and Jay built strong Moose presences that paralleled the union locals at the mills, and the order's working-class membership profile fit naturally into the rhythm of mill towns. The Women of the Moose ran much of the on-the-ground charitable work, particularly during the long stretches of winter when isolation and unemployment hit hardest, and Maine WOTM chapters maintained an unusually strong tradition of Christmas-basket distribution in remote rural communities.

Moosehaven, the order's retirement community in Florida, has long had a dedicated Maine waiting list, and many Maine members spend their final years there as a kind of warm-climate retirement option that the state's geography otherwise denies. The Maine Moose Association also funds scholarships for the children of deceased members. Maine retains roughly 20 active Moose lodges today, with the strongest concentrations along the southern coast, in the Lewiston-Auburn area, and along the central inland highway corridor.

Eagles, Knights of Columbus & Other Fraternal Orders in Maine

The Fraternal Order of Eagles arrived in Maine shortly after its 1898 founding in Seattle, with early aeries in Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, and Biddeford. The Eagles built a working-class membership in Maine's mill and seaport towns and were active in the legislative campaigns the order is known for, particularly around mothers' pensions and old-age pensions. Today the FOE has a smaller Maine footprint than the Elks or Moose, but a handful of aeries remain active. Knights of Columbus is the largest Catholic fraternal order in Maine, with strong councils in the Franco-American mill cities of Lewiston, Auburn, Biddeford-Saco, and Waterville, as well as in Portland, Bangor, Augusta, and the smaller St.

John Valley parishes of northern Aroostook County. The Maine State Council oversees more than 100 active councils, and the order's Maine charitable activities include Coats for Kids drives, Tootsie Roll campaigns for citizens with intellectual disabilities, and seminarian support for the Diocese of Portland. Beyond these large orders, Maine retains an unusually robust Grange and Odd Fellows presence in rural communities. The Maine State Grange, headquartered in Augusta, still operates more than 100 Subordinate Granges, and the Grand Lodge of Maine IOOF maintains active lodges across the state.

Yankee fraternal traditions — pancake breakfasts, bean suppers, sled-dog parades, and Civil War memorial dinners — survive in places where they have been quietly extinct elsewhere.

Maine Fraternal Lodges by the Numbers

Maine has approximately 30 active Elks lodges with combined membership of roughly 10,000 to 12,000. The Loyal Order of Moose maintains about 20 lodges with 6,000 to 7,000 members. Knights of Columbus has roughly 100 councils and approximately 12,000 to 14,000 members under the Maine State Council. The Fraternal Order of Eagles operates a small number of active aeries with several thousand combined members.

The Grand Lodge of Maine F&AM reports roughly 16,000 Masons across about 180 lodges, making Freemasonry the largest fraternal order in the state by member count. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows maintains roughly 25 to 30 active lodges in Maine, one of the highest counts of any state on a per-capita basis. The Maine State Grange retains more than 100 active Subordinate Granges, again one of the highest per-capita counts in the country. Lions Clubs International is also strong in Maine, with the Maine Lions Foundation supporting eye-care programs across the state.

Rotary Clubs operate in most of the larger Maine cities, and Kiwanis maintains a small but active Maine network. The Eastern Star, the women's appendant body to Freemasonry, retains a substantial Maine presence.

How to Join a Fraternal Lodge in Maine

Maine fraternal lodges are remarkably welcoming to newcomers, partly because the surviving membership has every reason to be. To join a Maine Elks lodge, candidates must be U.S. citizens at least 21 years old, of good character, professing a belief in a Supreme Being, sponsored by a current member, and approved by a vote of the lodge. Annual Elks dues in Maine typically range from $80 to $150, with a one-time initiation fee.

The Moose welcome anyone of good character over 21 with a belief in a Supreme Being; dues are usually $40 to $80 a year. Knights of Columbus is open to practical Catholics 18 and over; dues run $25 to $50 plus per-capita assessments. The Fraternal Order of Eagles is open to people of any faith of good character; dues are typically $30 to $50. The Grange is open to anyone interested in agriculture, rural community, or service; dues are often $30 to $50 a year and the Grange is unusual among fraternal orders for admitting men, women, and youth on equal terms from the start.

Odd Fellows lodges in Maine welcome candidates of any faith of good character with very low dues, often under $40. The friendliest path into any of these orders is to attend a public bean supper, lobster bake, or pancake breakfast, ask the cook how to apply, and follow up.

Notable Maine Fraternal Members in History

Maine fraternal rolls include a wide cross-section of the state's history. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin, Lincoln's first vice president, was a Mason in Hampden. Senator George Mitchell of Waterville was a Knight of Columbus and a frequent honorary guest at Maine Elks events. Senator Edmund Muskie of Rumford was a Mason and an Elk.

Author Stephen King has been an honorary supporter of Bangor-area charities tied to multiple fraternal orders. Joshua Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top and later governor of Maine, was a Mason in Brunswick. President Franklin Pierce summered in Maine and was a Mason. Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Skowhegan was a Rebekah, the women's branch of the Odd Fellows, and a frequent honoree at Maine Eastern Star events.

Civil War general Oliver Otis Howard was a Mason in Leeds. Senator Bill Cohen has spoken at Maine Knights of Columbus events. Author Sarah Orne Jewett's family had Odd Fellows connections in South Berwick, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's family had Masonic connections in Portland. Senator Olympia Snowe of Auburn has been honored at Maine fraternal events.

Senator Susan Collins has appeared at Maine Knights of Columbus and Lions Club events. Governor Joshua Chamberlain's contemporary, Governor Israel Washburn, was a Mason and an Odd Fellow. Author E.B. White, who lived for decades in North Brooklin, had family Masonic ties.

Frequently Asked Questions: Maine Fraternal Lodges

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.elks.org
• https://maineelks.org
• https://www.mooseintl.org
• https://www.kofc.org
• https://www.mainestatekofc.org
• https://www.foe.com
• https://mainemason.org
• https://mainestategrange.org
• https://www.maineioof.org