A rare glimpse into the Masonic Lodge

The first Masonic Lodge on the West Coast was the Pacific Lodge consecrated in Hokitika on 8 February 1866. One of that lodge's most famous masons was Richard Seddon who was initiated in 1868 and was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1893 until his death in 1906.

Shantytown's Masonic Lodge building is a replica of the Greymouth Masonic Lodge room (now demolished) and was gifted to Shantytown by the Lodge in 2000. This new building is used by two lodges - Advance No.61 and Mawhera No.65.

The building is the first Masonic Hall in an outdoor museum in New Zealand