The earliest records of any Masonic lodge on the North American continent are the records for the Lodge at the Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, officially known as the St. John's No. 1 Lodge. The Tun Tavern was the first "brew house" in the city, being built in 1685, and was located on the waterfront at the corner of Water Street and Tun Alley. The extant records of the Lodge begin on 24 June 1731, but the lodge may have been older than that. It was reported by Benjamin Franklin, in his Gazette for 8 December 1730, that there were "several Lodges of Free Masons erected in this Province...." The Tun Tavern, being a popular meeting place in Philadelphia, was undoubtedly the first location of a lodge in Philadelphia. Other organizations were formed there, including the St. George's Society in 1720, and the St. Andrew's Society in 1747. Even the United States Marine Corps was founded there on 10 November 1775 by Samuel Nicholas, grandson of a member of the Tun Tavern Lodge. The Tun Tavern Lodge, which was never warranted or issued a charter, being an "immemorial rights lodge," died out about 1738 due to an anti-Masonic fever that swept the colony at that time.