Built in 1850. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. 16 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1896.
From the record
“The Old Masonic Hall, also known as Benicia Masonic Hall, is a historic building in Benicia, California. Constructed by Benicia Masonic Lodge No. 5 in summer 1850, on land donated by Alexander Riddell and with lumber donated by Benicia founder Robert Semple, it was the first purpose build Masonic Hall in California.”
Wikipedia article Old Masonic Hall (Benicia, California), CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 38 National Register listings published here for Solano County · listed in 1972 · category: Building · built in 1850.
National Register reference number.72000259- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1896 to 1983
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
87 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
18961983
Fires near this property
395 since 1992
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 395 fires within 5 miles of Old Masonic Hall
between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,215 acres in total. None started naturally. 55 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
206
Arson/incendiarism
55
Equipment and vehicle use
55
Smoking
29
Misuse of fire by a minor
26
Debris and open burning
10
Power generation/transmission/distribution
8
Railroad operations and maintenance
4
Recreation and ceremony
1
Fireworks
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
9 September 2003
Equipment and vehicle use
under an acre
Santa Clara Unit
FOUR
8 September 2005
Smoking
1.0 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
7 September 2011
Misuse of fire by a minor
under an acre
Santa Clara Unit
not named
7 September 2010
Smoking
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
6 September 2019
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
1.3 acres
Santa Clara Unit
not named
6 September 2011
Power generation/transmission/distribution
18 acres
Santa Clara Unit
BRICKYARD
6 September 1998
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit
SKY VALLEY
5 September 2005
Equipment and vehicle use
1.0 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
20 workings within 5 miles of Old Masonic Hall: 9 unknowns, 5 occurrences, 4 past producers, 2 producers.
2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Mercury, Stone, Dimension, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Benicia, the town this property stands in, in 3 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 2 flood, 1 heavy rain.
No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the Interstate 780 and Military West onramp, prompting a closure of the onramp from around 0945 AM PST through 1700 PST on November 23rd.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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