What does this sign mean? (masonic)

So the story is, this is a local city government building. I was walking past it the other day and noticed the Masonic plaque on it. Above it are 4 characters, and when I google for them nothing comes up so now I'm curious what it means. I'm assuming the characters on the bottom are giving it a lodge number (the building used to be a masonic temple I believe).

i.imgur.com...

Sorry the picture is sideways, no image editing software on this computer to rotate it.

reply to post by Aazadan


I googled it and found it fast

It's Free And Accepted Masons

reply to post by Aazadan


Lodge 5908 of whatever State

maybe this one

The A.L. 5908 refers to the year in which that lodge's cornerstone was placed. A.L. 5908 (Anno Lucis 5908) Is the year 1908.

Free & Accepted Masons

Originally posted by Deaf Alien
reply to post by Aazadan

 

I googled it and found it fast

It's Free And Accepted Masons

Well, that makes sense. I was reading it as F.8.A.M and wasn't coming up with anything. Guess it just took some other eyes to see it as F.&.A.M.

reply to post by Aazadan


Yeah it does look like 8. I had to zoom in to see it lol

reply to post by Aazadan


Free and Accepted Masons. AL stands for Anno Lucis, or the Year of Light, which is traced from a biblical date I can't remember correlated to the beginning of creation (typically achieved by adding 4000 years to the current date). AL 5908 is the Gregorian 1908. Masonic groups often laid cornerstones for local government buildings.