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Institutional and Private LibrariesLibrary and Piano Room%u2014%u2014Indiana Masonic Home%u2014%u2014Franklin, IndianaFounded in 1915. Now Compass Park Retirement Community.On October 21, 1915, the cornerstone was laid at the Indiana Masonic Home in Franklin for members who were %u201covertaken by misfortune, sickness or adversity.%u201d The event was celebrated with a massive parade, and girls sat on the grass in a square-and- compass formation of the Commanderies of Knights Templar. Because of the event%u2019s popular appeal, 14 extra interurban cars were needed to bring visitors from Indianapolis for the festivities, and 80 automobiles chauffeured over 15,000 visitors to the grounds. One year later, on October 21, 1916, the home opened its doors. As originally planned, it was intended to house 50 adults and 60 children, with an Administration Building (containing adult guest rooms), residence halls for both boys and for girls, a hospital, and a service building. Within a few short years, it was obvious that expansion was required. Auspiciously, donations and dues provided the funds to install a well, build barns, poultry and hog houses, plant an orchard, buy farm and gardening equipment, and purchase surrounding farmland. Thus, the home became a self-sustaining community.At Christmas, members of various Masonic lodges donated money for gifts for the children, and for a sumptuous feast at Easter. The home contained an elementary, junior high, and high school, and the school%u2019s basketball teams won the county tournament multiple times. After 1944, students began attending the Franklin school system.While children haven%u2019t lived at the Indiana Masonic Home since 1972, a plaque was erected to remember those who spent their childhoods at this special place. It reads, %u201cIn memory of the 816 children who found sanctuary on these grounds from the tragedies that separated us from care by our own families. While here we were taught to be proud of a job well done, to be responsible for our deeds, to represent ourselves by saying what we meant and meaning what we said, to value keeping our promises and to respect one anothers%u2019 differences.%u201d The home, now exclusively a retirement center, is populated by some of the children who were raised here%u2014now, as aged adults.