MOUNT VERNON — This year marks the establishment 200 years ago of the Mount Zion Masonic Lodge in Knox County in 1810. The lodge began in the nearby community of Clinton as Ohio Lodge No. 7, and became Lodge No. 9 when it was relocated to Mount Vernon in 1817.

The Knox County Historical Society will recognize this anniversary with a special meeting at the Masonic Lodge Complex, 2 1/2 Public Square, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The program, covering the history of the Mount Zion Lodge, will be presented by Doug Brenneman, longstanding member and historian of the lodge. Following his presentation, Brenneman will conduct a tour of the lodge facility, which has served as their home for more than 125 years.

The Mount Zion Lodge has had as members many of the early and prominent pioneers of Knox County, including Mount Vernon’s first postmaster and recorder of deeds, Gilman Bryant, as well as the proprietor and first postmaster of Clinton, Samuel Smith. Throughout the years, the lodge has participated in many historic events in the county, including the dedication and laying of cornerstones at the Civil War Monument on the square and the new county jail, built in 1913.

The meeting is free and open to the public, and will be a rare opportunity to visit and tour the facility. For more information call the museum at 393-5247.