History behind Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 in McComb, Mississippi explained.

Curtis Bryant Jr. and Emogene Bryant owned the property where Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 had once operated at. Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 operated as a Fraternal Beneficiary Society, Order or Association which was a negro Masonic Hall in a 2‑story cinder‑block building.

Curtis Bryant Jr. and Emogene Bryant instructed fellow Freemasons to allow Bob Moses to use the second floor of the Masonic Lodge located on 630 Warren Street in the Burgland section of McComb to operate as a voter registration school. Owens, Bryant and Moses conducted meetings at the Masonic lodge and at churches on Sundays to mobilize the community for the voter registration drive. (Ref: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1247&context=etd)

Reginald Robinson spent his early days in McComb doing the spadework for the project. He set up a bank account and credit accounts at a local restaurant and office supply store. He helped open the voter registration school above the Burgland Supermarket, where he and other SNCC workers prepared locals to take the voter registration exam. (Ref: https://snccdigital.org/people/reggie-robinson/)

Weeks following a walk-out in 1961, the Masonic Temple Lodge, Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5, located at 630 Warren Street had been condemned by the City of McComb. Bryant, a member of the Temple had designated the site for voter registration classes. On October 25, 1961 a letter from the office of the mayor read as follows: “city authorities have no objections to this building being used as a class room or for lodge meeting purposes, but it must be made safe from a fire hazard standpoint.” [Ref: Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi (Champaign: University of Illinois), p. 114, 1995]


This building, Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57, was the site of the SNCC’s first voter registration project. Hegira Temple #57 was bombed by racists in 1964. However the building had been condemned a few years prior. (Ref: https://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/Public/prop.aspx?id=103072&view=facts&y=1024)

At about 12:50 AM, Saturday, August 14, 1964, Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 and Burgland Supermarket were bombed by unidentified racists. All windows were shattered and the roof was damaged. Walls had received damaged too. The blast left a large hole in the ground. It is guessed that the bomb was thrown from a passing car and landed relatively far from the store. (Ref: content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/api/collection/p15932coll2/id/21078/)

There was no good reason for this place to be bombed except for the fact that Bob used to hold voter registration classes in the Masonic Lodge above the supermarket in 1961, The supermarket is two blocks away from the freedom house and right across the street from St. Paul's Church where the freedom school is held. (Ref: content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/api/collection/p15932coll2/id/24165/)

Sheriff R. R. Warren, McComb City Police, and the FBI arrived to ask residents on whereabouts regarding the bombing. Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 was located upstairs while Burgland Supermarket was located downstairs. (Ref: https://www.crmvet.org/nars/aff/640815_sncc_mcc_lewis_affidavit.pdf)

Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 moved to 318 Lampton Hilltop Road in Columbia, Mississippi after the bombing and prior to 1971. The bombing is what prompted to Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 to relocate to another city. (Ref: https://www.taxexemptworld.com/organization.asp?tn=610338)

Today the building is unused and a portion of the roof is missing on the lower level on the building facing north of Warren Street.


Worshipful Master Eureka Lodge #5/Hegira Temple #57 was located at 630 Warren Street, McComb, Mississippi, US 39648. The other location is Warren Street and Denwiddle Avenue, McComb, Mississippi, US 39648.