The Southern Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish was founded in 1801 with a single purpose.

Our History

The Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, formed in Charleston, South Carolina, has been the foundation for the high degrees in Masonry for over two centuries. Prior to the creation of the Southern Jurisdiction, “The Mother Supreme Council of the World”, the degrees were anything but uniform and there was no governing body to oversee the regularity of the Scottish Rite work.

Since that time the Supreme Council of thirty-three Thirty-third Degree Masons, the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, have ensured that Scottish Rite Masons dispersed throughout the world receive the most inspiring Masonic degrees a Freemason can experience today.

More information about the history of the Southern Jurisdiction can be found on the Supreme Council’s website.

Historic photography provided by Jesse Logan Nusbaum, 32º