While the name has changed, Essex Lodge has served the Masonic Brotherhood and the Caldwell community since 1827. The lodge participates in several charitable programs, including blood drives. Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that developed through unknown origins. Freemasonry now exists in various forms around the world with millions of members. The forms all share moral and metaphysical ideals, which include a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being. Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon's Temple. The fraternity is administratively organized into Grand Lodges each of which governs its own jurisdiction, which consists of subordinate (or constituent) lodges. Grand Lodges recognize each other through a process of landmarks and regularity. Freemasonry is not a religion and does not require religious affiliation.

West Caldwell Township

West Caldwell Welfare Department

Bridge Inc

Lois A. Thomsen, LCSW