Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7

The Masonic Hall of Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7 is a historic Gothic revival building on South 2nd Avenue in Franklin, Tennessee. 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 treaty agreed after passage of the 1830 Indian Removal Act. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973.[2][3] It continues to serve the local Masonic lodge.

Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7
Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7, March 2014.
Location115 S. 2nd Ave. South, Franklin, Tennessee
Coordinates35°55′31″N 86°52′1″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1823 (1823)
Architectural styleGothic Revival
NRHP reference No.73001859
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 7, 1973[1]
Designated NHLNovember 7, 1973[2]

Description and history

The Hiram Masonic Lodge 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 storage on the smaller third floor.[3]

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.[3] In 1830, it was the site of negotiations between the Chickasaw Indians and a commission headed by President Andrew Jackson, which resulted in the Treaty of Franklin. This treaty, the first of the Indian removal agreements made in the wake of the 1830 Indian Removal Act, called for the Chickasaw to sell their lands and move west to today's Oklahoma. The treaty was never ratified, and the Chickasaw were later forced into the Treaty of Pontotoc Creek.[3]

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

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  3. Ben Levy and Cecil N. McKithan (February 26, 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7 / Masonic Hall" (pdf). National Park Service. Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying one photo, exterior, undated (32 KB)
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