Buck Lake Methodist Church 1893-1919

​The church (presently on King Street in Gray) was built in 1893 near Buck Lake.

• Jesse Bratt Sr donated the land
  
• George McGillivray, a millwright by trade, acted as the building supervisor
• materials/lumber were hauled from Regina
• volunteers provided the labour
  

This structure was the only church between Regina and the United States border until after the turn of the century. The early ministers were Mr. Bennie and Mr. Robertson. The final minister was Reverend Hancock who served from 1918 to May 1919.
The building also served as the community centre for the pioneers of the area - there was a debating society, picnics, ball games and skating parties in the winter. A barn and the post office were nearby so this area was considered the hub of the community.
This changed in 1912 when the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway came and the town site of Gray was established three miles to the east. The Buck Lake church closed in 1919, due to facilities being built in the recently settled hamlet. Shortly after the church was closed, a violent storm twisted it diagonally on its foundation and destroyed the barn.
The building was repurposed in 1925 as the Gray Masonic Lodge Temple. The structure was hauled to its location in Gray (corner of King Street and 2nd Avenue) with a team of 24 horses pulling it on skids. The original structure was 20’ x 30’ - a front entrance was added and it is now 20’ x 45’. In 1982 the Gray Lodge amalgamated with Milestone Lodge and the building is now privately owned.
​This church is one of the oldest known in the province of Saskatchewan and is the oldest structure in the town of Gray.

Gray Masonic Lodge Temple 1923-1982

In June 1923 the Gray Lodge was granted Charter #176. Meetings for the first couple of years were held in the high school, the next year they decided to purchase the unused Buck Lake Methodist Church. In 1925 the structure was hauled from Buck Lake to its present location in Gray (corner of King Street and 2nd Avenue). It took a team of 24 horses pulling it on skids. The family of skunks who had made their winter home under the church did not appreciate the disturbance and registered their usual form of protest.
​Renovations over the years included woodgrain paneling throughout the interior and installing a drop ceiling. Previous to that, the hall was placed on a new foundation. A front entrance was also added to increase the original building size from 20’ x 30’ to 20’ x 45’.
Lang Lodge amalgamated (due to declining membership) with Gray in 1976. Then, in December 1982, Gray amalgamated with Milestone Lodge.
The building is now privately owned.

1948 50th Anniversary catered and decorated by the Gray Homemakers Club.