Virginia Fraternal Lodges

About Fraternal Organizations in Virginia

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

History of Fraternal Organizations in Virginia

Virginia's fraternal history runs from colonial Williamsburg taverns to twenty-first-century military communities, and it is among the oldest such histories in North America. The Grand Lodge of Virginia, the second oldest in the United States, was constituted in 1778 with George Washington's home lodge, Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22, eventually anchoring its iconic memorial in Alexandria. Williamsburg Lodge No.

6, chartered in 1773, traces its origins back even earlier, and many of the founding fathers, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Patrick Henry, walked through Virginia's lodge rooms or operated within their political and social orbit. After the Civil War, Virginia's economy reorganized around tobacco, railroads, coal, the Hampton Roads ports, and the federal military presence, and the modern American fraternal orders grew along that infrastructure. Norfolk Elks Lodge No. 38, chartered in 1885, was one of the earliest BPOE lodges south of the Potomac and reflected the rapidly growing port city's mixture of merchants, naval officers, and dockworkers.

Richmond Elks Lodge No. 45 followed quickly, drawing the city's lawyers, tobacco executives, and Confederate veterans onto neutral fraternal ground. Lynchburg, Roanoke, Newport News, Petersburg, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Alexandria, Winchester, and dozens of other Virginia cities chartered Elks lodges in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Loyal Order of Moose and the Fraternal Order of Eagles followed the railroads, ports, and coalfields.

The Knights of Columbus came in with Catholic immigration to Norfolk, Richmond, Alexandria, and the coal towns of Southwest Virginia. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was historically powerful, with hundreds of subordinate lodges spread across the state. The federal military presence, Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base, plus Quantico, Langley, Fort Belvoir, Fort Eustis, Fort Lee, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, has shaped Virginia's fraternal life heavily. Many lodges in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, and around the Pentagon have memberships dominated by active and retired military personnel, and lodge programming reflects that emphasis through veterans' assistance, military family support, and Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances.

The state's geographic and economic diversity, the Tidewater, the Piedmont, the Shenandoah Valley, the coalfields, the Eastern Shore, the Northern Virginia federal corridor, means that Virginia fraternal culture varies considerably from one region to another, but the throughline is a consistent emphasis on civic service, military support, and historical continuity.

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Virginia

Norfolk Elks Lodge No. 38, chartered in 1885, is the oldest Elks lodge in Virginia and one of the earliest in the South. The Norfolk lodge has historically had heavy naval representation given the city's role as headquarters of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and that military character continues today.

Richmond Elks Lodge No. 45 chartered shortly after and drew on Richmond's role as the financial, legal, and tobacco capital of Virginia. Other historic Virginia Elks lodges include Lynchburg No. 321, Roanoke No.

197, Newport News No. 315, Portsmouth No. 82, Petersburg No. 237, Charlottesville No.

389, Fredericksburg No. 875, Alexandria No. 758, Winchester No. 867, Staunton No.

351, Hampton No. 366, and Danville No. 227. The Virginia Elks Association supports the Virginia Elks Major Project, which provides therapy and assistance for children with disabilities, plus statewide Hoop Shoot competitions, scholarship work through the Elks National Foundation, and substantial veterans' programming.

Virginia Elks have a particularly strong record of supporting Wounded Warrior programs at Walter Reed Bethesda, the Hampton VA Medical Center, and the Salem VA Medical Center. The state association also coordinates an annual Tidewater Crab Feast and Shenandoah Apple Harvest fundraiser tied to local lodges.

Loyal Order of Moose in Virginia

The Loyal Order of Moose has been a major presence in Virginia's working-class communities for over a century. Lodges in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, Richmond, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Danville, Bristol, Staunton, Winchester, Fredericksburg, and dozens of smaller communities have operated for decades, with particularly strong representation in the southwestern coalfield counties and along the Hampton Roads waterfront. Virginia Moose lodges draw heavily from shipyard workers, longshoremen, military personnel, railroaders, and coal miners. Mooseheart and Moosehaven are supported through statewide tournaments and benefit drives.

After Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and during multiple winter storms in the Virginia mountains, Moose lodges served as staging points for relief work. The Women of the Moose chapters operate alongside the lodges with strong educational and youth programs.

Eagles, Knights of Columbus & Other Fraternal Orders in Virginia

The Fraternal Order of Eagles arrived in Virginia from its Pacific Northwest origins through the railroad and military trades. Aeries operate in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, Richmond, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Bristol, and Fredericksburg, among other locations. Virginia Eagles support the order's national charitable focus on diabetes research, the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk, and the Jimmy Durante Children's Fund. The Knights of Columbus is one of the larger Catholic fraternal organizations in Virginia, with strong councils tied to the Diocese of Arlington in Northern Virginia and the Diocese of Richmond covering the rest of the state.

Norfolk Council 367, chartered in 1899, is one of the oldest councils in the South. Richmond Council 395 anchors the central part of the state, and Arlington and Alexandria councils anchor the rapidly growing Catholic communities of Northern Virginia. Virginia Knights of Columbus support seminarians, sponsor Special Olympics events through Tootsie Roll drives, run Coats for Kids campaigns each winter, and partner closely with both dioceses on parish ministries, refugee resettlement, and pro-life work. The state council fields one of the most active Catholic-information advertising programs in the country.

Virginia Fraternal Lodges by the Numbers

Virginia has approximately 80 active Elks lodges with combined membership around 30,000, around 60 Moose lodges with roughly 35,000 members, around 50 Fraternal Order of Eagles aeries with about 20,000 members, and around 220 Knights of Columbus councils with roughly 30,000 members. Lions Clubs are widely chartered, with more than 350 in the state, and Rotary and Kiwanis are present in essentially every Virginia city. Total Virginia fraternal and civic membership is estimated at more than 175,000 once auxiliaries are included. Density is highest in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, and the Roanoke and Lynchburg metropolitan areas, with notable concentrations also in the southwestern coalfields and along the Shenandoah Valley.

How to Join a Fraternal Lodge in Virginia

Membership requirements in Virginia follow the standard pattern across orders. The Elks require U.S. citizenship, age twenty-one, belief in God, and sponsorship by a current Elk. The Moose admit men twenty-one and older with sponsorship.

The Eagles take men eighteen and older. The Knights of Columbus is open exclusively to practical Catholic men eighteen and older. Initiation fees and annual dues are generally modest, often in the seventy-five to two-hundred-dollar range. Lions, Rotary, and Kiwanis are coed civic clubs admitted by invitation.

Virginia's heavy military population gives many lodges an unusual depth of veterans, active-duty service members, and federal civilian employees, and several lodges in the Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia regions specifically welcome new arrivals associated with permanent change of station moves. Open houses, fish fries, crab feasts, and Memorial Day events are common gateways into the lodges.

Notable Virginia Fraternal Members in History

Virginia's fraternal roll is one of the deepest in the country. George Washington was Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22 and remains the most famous American Mason; Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe operated within the Virginia fraternal milieu of their era. Patrick Henry was a Mason.

Among Elks, Virginia's twentieth-century rolls include senators, governors, federal judges, and military leaders. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. was active in Winchester-area fraternal circles.

Senator John Warner participated in Virginia civic life through multiple lodges. Admiral Arleigh Burke, who lived in Northern Virginia, was associated with veterans' fraternal work. Virginia bishops, including Bishop Walter Sullivan, Bishop Francis DiLorenzo, and the long sequence of Diocese of Arlington bishops, worked closely with the Knights of Columbus state council. Country music figures associated with the Bristol-area Carter Family heritage participated in Southwest Virginia civic clubs.

NASCAR drivers from Martinsville and South Boston have lent their names to Virginia Elks and Moose charity events. The state's military and political prominence ensures that high-profile members continue to circulate through Virginia lodges to this day.

Frequently Asked Questions: Virginia Fraternal Lodges

Sources & Further Reading

• https://www.elks.org/lodges/
• https://www.virginiaelks.org/
• https://www.kofc.org/
• https://www.vakofc.org/
• https://www.mooseintl.org/
• https://www.foe.com/
• https://www.grandlodgeofvirginia.org/
• https://www.lva.virginia.gov/
• https://www.lionsclubs.org/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Lodge_of_Virginia