New Hope Lodge A.F. & A.M. No. 279 G.R.C.
A Dispensation dated May 15th 1872, was granted by M.W. Bro. James Seymour, Grand Master, for the formation of a Lodge in the Village of Hespeler, to be denominated New Hope Lodge. The Petition was signed by eleven Charter Members. The three Principal Officers named were W. Bro. Isaac Huber, W.M., Bro. Archibald Bryden, S.W., and Bro. Richard Clayton, J.W.
The name, New Hope, was the second name of the community adopted about 1835, and made official when the Post Office was opened in 1851. Some of the early Mennonite settlers had come from New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on the west bank of the Delaware River. The name was subsequently changed to Hespeler in 1859 when the Village was incorporated, and later absorbed into the City of Cambridge January 1st 1973.
The Beehive, an ancient Masonic symbol of industry and obedience, was an apt choice for the civic emblem of Hespeler, one that proudly proclaimed "Hespeler - a hive of industry!" It was adopted as the emblem of New Hope Lodge in 1976. The Minutes record: "New Hope - a hive of industry, and a honey of a lodge." The Beehive was given a place of prominence in the present arms of the City of Cambridge.
