On May 16, 1814, the Grand Lodge of Maryland laid the cornerstone for the new Masonic Hall on St. Paul’s Lane. The new hall was designed by French architect Maximilian Godefroy and built by Colonel Jacob Small and Colonel William Steuart. Maryland Governor Levin Winder, Esq., serving as the R.W.G. Master of Masons led the ceremony.

In The Chronicles of Baltimore, historian John Thomas Scharf highlighted the scene from the day, writing:

The different Masonic lodges of this city formed in procession on Monday, the 16th of May, at the riding-school in George street from whence, accompanied by a band of music and a company military, they proceeded to the First Presbyterian Church, in East street (Fayette.) After divine service, the procession moved to, “a spot of ground near the southwest corner of the new court-house in St Paul’s lane where according to the ceremonies of that most ancient and honorable fraternity, the foundation was laid of a new and superb Masonic hall.”