American Temperance University
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 |
| Added to NRHP | April 16, 1971 |
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. and James Willis Taylor.
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; it is included in the Cornstalk Heights Historic District.