Celebrating 225 Years in Franklin Video Series
Episode 1: Where We Began – An Introduction with Senior Pastor Bryan Brooks
Episode 2: Lineage & Legacy – An Interview with Our Historians Part 1 of 2
Episode 3: Lineage & Legacy – An Interview with Our Historians Part 2 of 2
1799
to 1829
Our First Location
Franklin founder Abram Maury provided land for a Methodist church at the time of the city’s founding, making this the oldest worshipping congregation in Franklin and Williamson County.
On October 26-The General Assembly of Tennessee established Franklin “according to the original plan of said town” as “laid off” in 1798 by Abram Maury “on his land on the Harpeth River.” Maury set apart a plot for a “Methodist Meeting House on the easter side of East Margin (now First Avenue) and directly opposite the eastern end of Church Street. This site is located adjacent to the old Lillie Flour Mill silos.
There is no photograph of this location, but we know that Francis Asbury once spoke here and recorded in his journal about a “neat little brick building along the Harpeth.” Based on other written accounts we’ve uncovered we know it likely included two fireplaces and was a simple structure.