Home for Aged Masons

Home for Aged Masons
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The building in 2013
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Location	Ben Allen Lane and R.S. Glass Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee
Coordinates	36°13′03″N 86°44′36″W
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built	1913
Architect	Asmus and Norton
Architectural style	Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.	08001086[1]
Added to NRHP	November 19, 2008

The Home for Aged Masons, formerly known as the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home and the Middle Tennessee Tuberculosis Hospital, is a historic building in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

History

The land was given to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee Free and Accepted Masons by Jere Baxter, the founder of the Tennessee Central Railroad.[2] The building was designed by Nashville architects Asmus and Norton in Colonial Revival style, and was completed in 1913–1915.[2] It housed older Freemasons and families of lower means.[2] It was co-founded by William H. Bumpas and Marcus B. Toney, who served as its founding president.[2] Toney was a Confederate veteran, Klansman, and Edward Bushrod Stahlman's brother-in-law.[3] Stahlman was one of the charter members.[4]

Masonic Home for the Aged in 1940

The building was acquired by the state of Tennessee and repurposed as the Middle Tennessee Tuberculosis Hospital in 1941.[2] It was used as offices for the Tennessee Department of Health in the 1970s and 1980s.[2][5]

The property was unoccupied from 1999 to 2009, when the state of Tennessee suggested demolishing it to save money.[6] However, by 2016 state officials were "attempting" to preserve it.[5]

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November 19, 2008.[1]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. Tara Mitchell Mielnik (June 15, 2008). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Home for Aged Masons / Masonic Widows and Orphans Hom". National Park Service. Retrieved January 12, 2016. With plans. 20 photos included with registration not included in PDF.
3. "Famous Confederate Soldier, Held in Elmira Prison, Dies; Spoke in City 16 Years Ago". Star-Gazette. November 4, 1929. p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Toney, Marcus B. (1905). The Privations of a Private. Nashville, Tennessee. pp. 139–143 – via Internet Archive.
5. Todd, Jen (May 12, 2016). "Officials hope to save historic Masonic buildings in Inglewood". The Tennessean. p. 10A. Retrieved May 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Patterson, Angela (October 30, 2009). "State of Masons home remains up in the air". Davidson A.M. (Supplement to The Tennessean). pp. 1N, 4N. Retrieved May 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.