St. Paul's Episcopal Church

James Hervey Otey, the first rector, began Tennessee's Episcopalians in a Masonic lodge room, not a church. A Virginia-born schoolmaster turned clergyman, he organized the Franklin congregation, then helped start schools at Ashwood, Jackson and Columbia, the last with Leonidas Polk. He was elected bishop in 1833 and served until his death in 1863. His thirty-year dream of a regional seminary became the University of the South at Sewanee in 1857. Otey lived at Columbia from 1835 to 1852, and the 1840 census lists three enslaved people in his household.

What the plaque says

St. Paul's Episcopal Church This "Mother Church of the diocese of Tennessee," was begun in 1831, four years after its congregation was organized in 1827. Here James H. Otey, its first rector, was elected the first bishop of Tennessee. It was so damaged through use as a Civil War barracks and hospital that it had to be remodeled in 1870. It is the oldest Episcopal Church and congregation in Tennessee, and the oldest Episcopal Church building in continual use west of the Appalachians.

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

• Chickasaw Treaty Council — steps away
• John H. Eaton — 0.3 mi
• Lotz House — 0.4 mi
• Carter House — 0.5 mi