American Temperance University opened in 1893 in the planned town of Harriman, Tennessee

Harriman, Tennessee

Harriman is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, primarily in Roane County, with a small extension into Morgan County. It is the principal city of and is included in the Harriman Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Roane County and is a component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La...

, which was developed as a community with no alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

s 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

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. 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

Bushrod Washington James

Bushrod Washington James, A.M., M.D. was an American surgeon, homeopathist, writer, and philanthropist who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Homeopathic College in 1857. He served as the secretary of the Homeopathic Medical Society of Pennsylvania and later as its...

, is now an inn; it is included in the Cornstalk Heights Historic District

Cornstalk Heights

Cornstalk Heights is a neighborhood in Harriman, Tennessee, USA. Platted in the early 1890s as a residential area for Harriman's upper and professional classes, the neighborhood contains over 100 buildings added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as a historic district for their...

.

Sources

• 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.