Shepheard's Tavern
Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina
Marker Inscription
On this site stood Shepheard's Tavern The birthplace of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry The Mother Supreme Council of the World May 31, 1801
The Story
By 1801 Charleston was one of the busiest ports in the young United States, and its taverns doubled as the city's civic parlors—places where merchants, planters, and members of fraternal societies gathered to talk business and politics. It was here, at Shepheard's Tavern, that a group of Masons organized the first Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, establishing the governing body that would spread this branch of Freemasonry across the country and beyond. The tavern itself is long gone, but the marker fixes the spot where an enduring American institution took formal shape.
Why it matters
Charleston is honored within the Scottish Rite as the 'Mother Supreme Council of the World,' making this unassuming corner the birthplace of a fraternal order that shaped civic and social life for generations of Americans.
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Related events
- · Founding of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, May 31, 1801
Themes & tags
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