Villa Rica Lodge No. 584 was organized in 1971 with twenty-one (21) men under the direction of District Deputy Grand Master (DDGM) George A. Sturdervan and Assistant District Deputy Grand Master (ADDGM) Horace Banks.  The first officers of the lodge were:
 

Brother James A. Walker	Worshipful Master
Brother Johnny Reeves	Senior Warden
Brother Lester Dobbs	Junior Warden
Brother Morris Brook	Treasurer
Brother Johnny L. Harris	Secretary
Brother James Hayes	Senior Deacon
Brother Bobby Taylor	Junior Deacon
Brother Roy V. Zachery	Senior Steward
Brother Roy Robinson	Junior Steward
Brother Herman Dobbs	Marshall
Brother Larry J. Thompson	Tyler
Brother Larry Powell	Chaplain

In 1975, under the leadership of Worshipful Master James A. Walker, the members came together to purchase the building from Mr. Frank Moore of Hiram Lodge #8 A.F.A.M, Scottish Rite Masons, for the sum of $1314.83.   At the time, the location was called Sunset Street but has since been renamed to Thomas E. Dorsey Drive after the legendary gospel singer/composer who was a member of Mt. Prospect Baptist Church located across the street from the lodge.  The purchase of the building started a great vision to build this Lodge and with lots of hard work and personal and financial sacrifice, the brothers worked together and renovated the building.

At the Grand Session in Augusta, Georgia in June 1972, under the leadership of the Most Worshipful Grand Master, Dr. X.L. Neal, Villa Rica Lodge No. 584 was chartered on June 15, 1972. 

With the help and support of ADDGM Horace Banks and Past Master Harold Mullins of Carrollton No. 57, we started our first initiation class in August 1972.  We had a total of four candidates who were raised in October 1972.   We also started our first annual banquet in October of the same year. In November we started our first Thanksgiving basket giveaway, and in December we initiated our first Christmas basket giveaway.

In 1974, the process was started to create an Eastern Star Chapter.  In April 1975 we received approval from the Grand Worthy Patron, Brother Earnest McIntyre, to start what has become known as Villa Rica Chapter No.138.

As a lodge, 1977 was a very memorable year.  In May, we completely owned the building that still serves as our meeting place.  We elected a new Worshipful Master, Brother Johnny Reeves, who served five years as Senior Warden to Worshipful Master James Walker, our charter Worshipful Master.  We hosted several district meetings since our inception but the first was on September 25, 1977 at Stewart Middle School.  Also that year, we hosted one of our annual banquets and had the pleasure of being graced with Grand Worthy Matron Florence M. Hogan and Senator Julian Bond as our guest speakers.  The banquet took place on November 5, 1977.  Our next year’s banquet speaker was an unknown rookie anchorwoman by the name of Monica Kaufman.  That banquet took place on November 11, 1978.

We hosted our second district Meeting in May 1982 once again at Stewart Middle School, and our third hosting was in April 1991 at Glanton-Hindman Elementary School.  At the time of the compilation of this history, we are scheduled to hold our fourth District Meeting sometime in April 2006.

Some of our community service projects include, but are not limited to our first annual Easter Egg Hunt, which took place at Jesse Davis Park in April 1990 under the leadership of Worshipful Master Benjamin Sexton.  We have helped members of our community fund burial services, contributed to scholarship efforts, and assisted deserving young men with funding summer camp. We have made several donations of money and supplies to women and children shelters as well as local schools and day care centers. We continue to prove to be positive role models in our community.

Under the leadership of Worshipful Master Gary Sparks, we conducted our first annual Turkey shoot, which took place in Bremen, Georgia on October 28, 1995.  Brothers from around the Atlanta Masonic District have participated in the many Turkey shoots done throughout the years.

In February 1999, under the leadership of Worshipful Master Cedric McIntosh, we changed our meeting nights from Saturday’s to Thursday’s at 7:00 pm.  The change has continued to prove beneficial to our meeting participation.  Also in that year, we hosted our first Grand Master’s Research at the 330 Auburn Ave. Grand Lodge location on December 12, 1999.

Under the leadership of Worshipful Master Craig Reed, we started some much-needed renovation on our building.  We also coordinated the first cornerstone laying handled in our area by Atlanta Masonic District No. 3 for Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church on December 12, 2004.  Also that year, we worked with the United States Marine Corp’s “Toys For Tots” program and gave away over 600 toys to families in our community on December 18, 2004.

In 2005, we are proud to have our first Grand Lodge Officer in our midst. The Most Worshipful Grand Master Ramsey Davis, Jr. named Brother Jonathan White as the Grand Assistant Secretary.  We also served as the host for the Atlanta Masonic District #3 annual meeting held at Frank P. Lindley Middle School in Cobb County.  Also in 2005, Worshipful Master Jonathan White was honored as the Worshipful Master of the year for District #3.  Worshipful Master White also served in 2006 and focused on the continued renovation of our lodge.

In 2007 and 2008 under the leadership of Worshipful Master Derrick Fountain, the goals of the lodge was to continue service to our community, the continued improvement to our lodge with renovations, growth in attracting other good men to our fraternity and making additional revenue necessary to operate our lodge.  We also participated in a mentoring program with the Douglas County Police Department.  Our own Past Master Gary Sparks who was promoted to Deputy Chief of Police spearheaded this program and the lodge graciously received and award from the city of Douglasville for our participation. In 2007, Worshipful Master Fountain received an award from District Deputy Grand Master Charles Truitt for service to the district.

WM Craig Reed in 2009 continued much needed renovations to the lodge, which included the purchasing and acquiring of new furniture, and a new heating system.  We had a significant amount of growth this year which enhanced our capabilities to do good works within the community.  Additionally, to honor one of the pillars of our fine lodge, PM Ben Sexton, we created a scholarship in his name to be given to deserving children in our community. The first recipient was Miss Brianna Fountain. She was able to use the funds from our scholarship to travel abroad with her school on an internship!

The masonic year 2010 was truly a year of blessings within Villa Rica #584 under the leadership of WM Earnest C. Washington.  During the 1^st quarter of the year, the brothers played host and conducted the Atlanta Masonic District #3’s monthly Grand Master’s Research.  The brothers performed so well that the District Deputy Grandmaster himself praised at how proficient we were.  As the year progressed, there were also a couple of major “firsts” in that our own PM Jonathan S. White was hand-picked from a panel of well qualified brothers to serve as an Assistant District Deputy Grandmaster for Atlanta Masonic District #3.  Additionally, we joined with the sisters of Villa Rica Chapter #138 to host the 1^st Annual PM Ben Sexton/Sister Mamie Thomaston Scholarship Banquet which was attended by over 100 guests.  We were able to give 4 young people scholarships to further enhance their educational pursuits.

To be continued…….