American Temperance University opened in 1893 in the planned town of Harriman, Tennessee, which was developed as a community with no alcoholic beverages permitted. In its second year of operation the institution enrolled 345 students from 20 states. However, it closed in 1908. Those who attended included two students who later became members of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Jennings, Jr.[2][3] and James Willis Taylor.[4]
Harriman City Hall | |
 Postcard depicting Temperance Hall | |
   | |
| Location | Roane and Walden Sts., Harriman, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°56′02″N 84°33′06″W / 35.9340°N 84.5516°W |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Built by | East Tennessee Land Co. |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000828[1] |
| Added to NRHP | April 16, 1971 |
The university's main building, Temperance Hall, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It now houses Harriman city government offices. The university's Bushrod W. James Hall of Domestic Science for Young Ladies, named for benefactor Bushrod Washington James, is now an inn;[5] it is included in the Cornstalk Heights Historic District.
Sources
edit- Temperance in the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
- Furnas, J. C. The Life and Times of the Late Demon Rum. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1965.
References
edit- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Town Meeting: Bulletin of America's Town Meeting of the Air v.9. 1943–1944.
- ^ John Jennings, Jr., Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ "James Willis Taylor". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ History of Bushrod Hall, Bushrod Hall Bed & Breakfast website, accessed October 22, 2009
