Historic Franklin Masonic Hall

Hiram Lodge No. 7 dates to 1809, and its three-story brick hall went up in 1823, long described as the first building of three stories west of the Alleghenies. It is the oldest public building in Franklin and the oldest Masonic hall in continuous use in Tennessee, and the lodge still meets upstairs. In 1830 a commission headed by President Andrew Jackson negotiated here with Chickasaw leaders, and the treaty they drafted was never ratified. It has been a National Historic Landmark since November 7, 1973.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Carnton — 1.6 mi
  The McGavock farm in Franklin, worked by 44 enslaved people in 1860, that became the largest field hospital of the Battle of Franklin.
• Fort Negley — 16 mi
  The largest inland stone fort of the Civil War, built in 1862 on St. Cloud Hill by more than 2,700 conscripted Black laborers, hundreds of whom died.
• National Museum of African American Music — 17 mi
  A downtown Nashville museum, opened in 2021, tracing gospel, blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and hip-hop through Black history from 1619 to 2016.
• Ryman Auditorium — 17 mi
  The 1892 brick tabernacle in downtown Nashville that was the Grand Ole Opry's home from 1943 to 1974, now a National Historic Landmark and working concert hall.

More markers nearby

• John H. Eaton — steps away
• Union Headquarters — steps away
• Reconstruction — steps away
• The Franklin Riot of 1867 — steps away