160th Anniversary Year of the Buffalo Soldier's - Firma Lodge No. 27 Vallejo, California

Vallejo, California — The California Resources Commission has released a 28‑page staff evaluation formally determining that Firma Lodge No. 27, located at 1001 Florida Street in Vallejo, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its significance in Ethnic Heritage: Black, Social History, and Religion.

The finding represents a major advancement in statewide recognition of early African American civic, fraternal, and veteran-built heritage sites.

Constructed in 1917 by volunteer labor from members of the local African American community, the building stands on a parcel originally purchased by the Veterans and Auxiliary Hall Association, an organization formed by Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry following their service in the Spanish‑American War.

The lodge became the home of Firma Lodge No. 27, Most Worshipful Prince Hall Free & Accepted Masons, and quickly emerged as a central institution in Vallejo’s growing Black community.

As Vallejo’s African American population expanded through military discharges in San Francisco Presidio, employment opportunities at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, post‑1906 earthquake rebuilding, and World War II defense mobilization, Firma Lodge No. 27 served as a critical hub for fraternal, civic, social, and religious life.

The building provided essential community support, meeting space, and housing assistance during decades marked by migration, segregation, wartime mobilization, and civil rights–era organizing.

The period of significance, 1917–1974, reflects the era during which the lodge’s role was most directly tied to the formation and stabilization of Vallejo’s African American community.

The California Resources Commission notes that the building’s community role continues to the present, and that its religious uses were secondary to its primary civic and social purpose qualifying the property under Criteria Consideration A for religious properties.

The nomination is being advanced under the African Americans in California, 1850–1974 Multiple Property Submission (MPS), within the thematic context of “Making a Life.” As a purpose‑built African American fraternal hall constructed by Black volunteer labor and founded by Buffalo Soldier veterans, Firma Lodge No. 27 meets all registration requirements for locally significant fraternal lodges, clubhouses, and meeting spaces.