The Behind the Scenes Tour lets visitors get a peek into the hidden spaces of the Masonic Hall, Franklin’s oldest public building. The tour visits the first floor community space, second floor Blue Lodge and preparation rooms, and third floor Royal Arch lodge room. Visitors will learn about early interactions between Native Americans, enslaved blacks, and white settlers in early Franklin, the Masons of Hiram Lodge No. 7’s role in Franklin and Tennessee’s development, the home-front and Federal occupation during the Civil War, African American community’s struggle to gain and keep rights during Reconstruction–epitomized in the Franklin Race Riot–and Jim Crow and modernization in Franklin. Visitors will see fingerprints left by enslaved workers in the bricks, 200 year old Masonic lodge rooms, and Civil War graffiti left behind by soldiers who used the Hall during Occupation and the Battle of Franklin.

When: Tours are offered Thursdays and Fridays at 10 A.M. and 2 P.M. and last approximately 90 minutes
Where: Historic Franklin Masonic Hall, 115 2nd Ave. S., Franklin, TN 37064