The Masonic Hall of Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7 is a historic

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building on South 2nd Avenue in

Franklin, Tennessee Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...

. Constructed in 1823, it is the oldest public building in Franklin. It is nationally significant as the site of negotiations leading to the Treaty of Franklin, the first

Indian removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a ...

treaty agreed after passage of the 1830

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...

. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1973. and It continues to serve the local Masonic lodge.

Description and history

The Hiram Masonic Lodge was the first three-story building constructed west of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. It is located in downtown Franklin, on the east side of 2nd Avenue South, between Main and Church Streets. It is a three-story brick building with Gothic Revival features. The front facade is five bays wide, with a false front extending above the gabled roof to a crenellated parapet with pyramid-topped posts and a central gable. Windows on the facade are narrow lancet-arches, set in two-story round-arch panels in the outer bays, and in a lancet-arched bay in the center. The interior has large meeting spaces on the first two floors and offices and a meeting room styled for the

York Rite The York Rite, sometimes referred to as the American Rite, is one of several Rites of Freemasonry. It is named for, but not practiced in York, Yorkshire, England. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic ...

on the third floor. The building houses Hiram Lodge No. 7, founded in 1809. It was built in 1823, and is the oldest public building in Franklin and the oldest Masonic Hall in continuous use in Tennessee. In 1830, it was the site of negotiations between the

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classif ...

Indians and a commission headed by President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, which resulted in the Treaty of Franklin. This treaty, the first of the

agreements made in the wake of the 1830

, called for the Chickasaw to sell their lands and move west to today's

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. The treaty was never ratified, and the Chickasaw were later forced into the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, the building was used as a hospital for wounded Union soldiers after the Battle of Franklin.

References

External links

Official Lodge website
{{National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Franklin, Tennessee Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Masonic buildings completed in 1823 Masonic buildings in Tennessee Native American history of Tennessee Gothic Revival architecture in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Williamson County, Tennessee

Description and history

See also

References

External links