Do you believe in ghosts? Franklin is rich in history with landmarks scattered across the area still standing as a reminder of that heritage.
Whether or not you believe, many places in Franklin have been associated with ghost sightings.
1Carnton Plantation
Located on the Carnton property is the largest Confederate graveyard in the south. It has been said that you can see soldiers walking the fields. Others have spotted a young servant who still sweeps the kitchen and the ghost of one of the five generals who lost his life on the property.
What we know is that after the battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, five injured Confederate generals were laid on the front porch of this old mansion where they subsequently died. Caroline Winder McGavock, who comforted the soldiers before they died has since been spotted at various places in and around the house. There have also been reports of one of the generals riding a horse through the fields of the mansion.
Carnton Plantation even made it on a Google Map of Tennessee called The Haunted Tennessee Road Trip.
Nashville Ghost and Paranormal Investigators (NGPI) publishes photos taken at haunted places, in which they believe ghosts revealed themselves. Here are some photos they published of Carnton Plantation.
The featured image at the top of this article shows the back porch, where people enter for tours. NGPI explains that this picture shows a man sitting on the bench to the right of the door and a woman in a large dress standing to his right whose image is partially hidden behind the column. There were no people on this side of the house at the time the photo was taken, adds NGPI.
This photo below supposedly shows a ghost sitting on the porch.
In this photo, the people at the bottom left of the picture are on a tour, but the blog site says the people on the porch are apparitions.
2Lotz House
The Lotz House has been referenced many times as a Franklin haunt. The website Are you Terrified, along with the Travel Channel, named this historic home as “One of the Most Terrifying Places in America.” Built in 1858 for the Lotz family, it was the site for a portion of the Battle of Franklin and later became a hospital for wounded soldiers. Witnesses have said they hear drums playing inside the home and a woman crying out for a loved one.
They claim many have spotted ghostly figures peering out the windows while the house is closed.
“Things go bump in the night,” said J.T. Thompson, owner of the Lotz House, to WSMV in 2014. “There’s no doubt about that. When you consider what happens inside this house and on the property surrounding this house, I can’t imagine anything more terrifying.”
The Lotz House was once home to a German immigrant family searching for a simple life in the Antebellum south, but instead found themselves in the middle of the Civil War. According to some who have lived and worked around the house, something from a bygone era has remained in the house and on those mist-covered battlefields 150 years after the Battle of Franklin.
“This was the heart, soul, ground zero of the battle,” Thompson said. “It was the bloodiest five hours of the American Civil War.”
“Because of its place on the battlefield, it’s used as a hospital for both confederate and federal troops,” Thompson said to WSMV in 2014. “It’s a very unique situation to house both under the same roof, under the same structure. The best way I can describe it comes from Lotz in his diary about the dead in his front yard the next day. He says they’re standing like scarecrows. They may not fall for the dead at their feet.”
“The first thing I say every day when I walk in this house is, ‘Hello everyone,’” Thompson said. “It’s when you fail to acknowledge them that they remind you that you forgot.”
3Old City Hall
The old City Hall and Courthouse, located next to Mellow Mushroom on Public Square, was once headquarters for the Union soldiers. There have been sightings of ghosts on the balcony of that building, eye witness accounts say they saw a couple of Union soldiers standing on that balcony as they sat on a bench in front of the building.
The courthouse property was used for various purposes, including hangings, and for branding and beating of criminals. The offices were used for hospital wards after the Battle of Franklin in November 1864.
The Target store on Columbia Avenue was built on part of the battlefield. I saw a lot of paranormal activity in the 11 years I worked there. I always hoped someone would investigate the store!!
I live in the housing development behind Carnton. There are several houses here that I have heard first hand experiences. One in particular was a soldier would appear. Their dog would bark at nothing there and wouldn’t enter the room where the soldier was seen by the kids. Also, several reports of a man riding a horse with a feather in his hat. Maybe that’s the general they are referring to in this story. Which is believed to be General Patrick Claiborne.
There are a lot of bones in the ground here. When they built the Chick Filet on Columbia right next to the Target they found a skeleton of a soldier. They weren’t sure if he was confederate or Federal. He was wearing a federal coat and had items that showed he could have been confederate. They re-buried him in Franklin.
Yeah this town is haunted. Ask people who live on Adams street. Theres plenty of stories and experiences. Things moving around poltergeist activity and apparitions of soldiers.
That Target on Columbia has a lot of poltergeist activity reported frequently. Ask anyone that works at any of the shops downtown Franklin. They will tell you stories. I was at Shuffs Music and a little finger piano flew off the shelf on its own. I witnessed that.
This time a year are when things seem to be most active around here. I know many stories of things that occur at the Lotz house. I wouldn’t call the Lotz house One of the Most Terrifying Places in America.” Is call it a house where Matilda Lotz lived. She has an amazing story. She was an amazing artist. That’s a story you would see that could be a movie. It’s an amazing story. She was an amazing woman who broke barriers as a woman living in those times. I made sure my daughters knew her story as an inspiration of you can accomplish in life. She was there that day during the battle. It was the day after her 6th birthday. That I have to believe was a part of her drive.
Look her up. Matilda Lotz. They should talk about Matilda Lotz more. That’s a story everyone should hear.
I lived on Cleburne St.til I was 19 and never saw or heard anything. This is the street Patrick. Cleburne wa killed on and backs up tp Adams Street. Also as a child a familyI knew lived in Carlton before they restored it and I never heard or saw anything. All hose streets around the Carter house were named after all the Generals who were killed in that area.