Built in 1826 by former Nashville Mayor Randal McGavock, this historic home weathered the bloody Battle of Franklin and served as its largest Confederate field hospital after the fighting ended. The floors of the home are still stained with the blood of soldiers who received aid there. Take a guided tour of the home and learn how the Battle of Franklin affected the McGavock family and inspired the bestselling novel The Widow of the South. Be sure and explore the grounds and outbuildings of this 1,420-acre property while you’re there. Want to dive a little deeper? Book one of Carnton’s specialized tours ahead of your visit, which cover topics ranging from slavery to a look at the Civil War from a theological perspective.

In 1823, Fountain Branch Carter married Mary Atkinson, who was known as Polly. Around 1830, they built a one-and-a-half story brick house just south of Franklin for their family. The Carter’s had twelve children, eight of whom reached adulthood. Before daybreak on November 30, 1864, Federal Brig. Gen. Jacob D. Cox woke the Carter family, took possession of the house and made the parlor his headquarters.   The Battle of Franklin began at 4pm in the waning afternoon sunlight when 20,000 Confederates attacked a similar number of entrenched Federals. The Carter family, a neighboring family, and several Carter slaves took refuge in the north room of the basement as the battle raged around their home.

Built in 1858 by German immigrant and master craftsman Johann Albert Lotz, this lovely four-columned home was built in the Greek Revival style. It served as a showcase for Lotz’s woodworking abilities and includes three carved fireplaces and a solid black walnut handrail on the curved staircase at the front of the home. Lotz was opposed to slavery and built the house himself at a time when slave labor was responsible for most of the area’s finer homes. Lotz House is now open to the public for guided tours, giving visitors the opportunity to hear how the young Lotz family survived during the Battle of Franklin and to see rare and unusual items from the home’s extensive collection of furniture and period artifacts.

Rippa Villa and the Cheairs family have been part of the Spring Hill and Maury County story since the early 1800s. The Greek Revival-style home that stands today was built in the early 1850s by Nat Cheairs, who served as a major in the 3rd Tennessee Infantry during the Civil War.   The Battle of Spring Hill was the genesis of the nightmare that unfolded on the fields south of Franklin on the afternoon of November 30, 1864, in the waning autumn light, as the American Civil War spiraled toward its violent conclusion.  The grounds around Rippa Villa help illustrate and tell a Reconstruction story possibly better than any other site in America.