The above illustration is from a steel engraving of a sketch by an unknown artist of the Falls of St. Anthony on the Mississippi River. This was the force of nature that stimulated settlement of the Village of St. Anthony, which grew into what has become the City of Minneapolis. The Falls also inspired the name 'Cataract' for the 2nd Masonic Lodge chartered in what was then the Territory of Minnesota in 1852, six years prior to statehood. Hence our lodge’s full name: Cataract Lodge #2 A.F. & A. M.

The view toward the northeast depicts the village of St. Anthony. One of the smaller buildings may have been the Ard Godfrey House, in which the Lodge's first meeting took place on Saturday, February 14, 1852. Brother Godfrey was the first treasurer of the Lodge. His house still stands, albeit removed from the river bank to higher ground. It is generally regarded to be the oldest house in Minneapolis. Across the river from the Godfrey House, the Mill City Museum now rises on the site of the once-mighty Washburn A flour mill. Adjacent to it is the new Guthrie Theater.

Today, the river and the mill district as seen in the picture here, look very different from how they appeared in the mid-1800's.  But the spirit of Cataract Lodge, it's beginings at the early era of Minneapolis and it's imapct on Masonry in Minnesota live strong.