The battlefield of the famous 1864 Battle of Franklin gained more ground Tuesday with the signing over of the two acres of land adjacent to the Carter House on the west side of Columbia Pike.
Reid and Brenda Lovell own the Franklin Flower & Gift Shop that currently sits on the purchased land, and they signed over the hallowed ground only yards from where Gen. Carter was fatally wounded during the battle, and the site that used to be claimed by the Carter family’s garden. The land was signed into the hands of the Battle of Franklin Trust and Franklin’s Charge, and preservation efforts will soon be moving forward.
The $2.8 million contract allows Franklin’s Charge and Battle of Franklin Trust one year to raise the necessary funds to complete the transaction. With this acquisition, nearly 20 acres in downtown Franklin has been saved, and will collectively represent one of the largest urban public Civil War attractions in the nation. Although the land will not be ready by the 150th anniversary in November, Carter Hill Park will be established later this year, an area that is estimated to be about seven acres on the east side of Columbia Pike.
“Over the years others had tried to buy this property, some with grandiose plans for it, but that was not what we were about. We just wanted to make sure the land was in the proper hands,” said Reid Lovell.
The Lovell’s had ancestors in the Battle of Franklin, and the property was loved dearly by Reid’s mother and father because of the history surrounding it. The Lovell’s feel their decision to place the property in the hands of Franklin’s Charge and like preservation groups will honor his parent’s love of Civil War history, and his relatives that fought in the Battle of Franklin.
The Civil War Trust alone donated over a million dollars to the cause already, saying “there’s no question that acquisition of these tracts will greatly enhance the preserved land on the Franklin battlefield near Columbia Pike,” in a letter from Jim Whiteheiser of the Civil War Trust.
The sesquicentennial anniversary of the Battle of Franklin is around the corner, and, for the last several years, preservationists have been pressing land owners around the Battle of Franklin area to give up their land in hopes to preserve the historic Civil War area of Franklin. Preservation groups have reclaimed over ten acres of sacred land in the urban core of Franklin over the past few years in efforts to make “ground zero” of the Battle of Franklin an iconic attraction for Civil War enthusiasts across the nation.
A number of groups are involved in the acquisition of the land, including the City of Franklin, the Heritage Foundation, the Civil War Trust, The Battle of Franklin Trust and the Franklin Charge.
“We put together one battlefield so that the tourists who come can have one total experience and see what the battle was all about,” said Julian Bibb III, board member of Franklin’s Charge.
