Octagon Hall Museum

This distinctive eight-sided house was built in 1847 by 33rd degree Mason Andrew Jackson Caldwell. During the Civil War, the Confederate sympathizer hid soldiers in walls, under stairs, and in bricked-up basement passages.

Octagon Hall stands at 6040 Bowling Green Road in Franklin, Kentucky, one of only three eight-sided brick homes remaining in the United States. Andrew Jackson Caldwell began construction in 1847 using locally made bricks and lumber, reportedly choosing the unusual octagonal design because he believed it would protect against severe storms. The house was not completed until 1859, and tragedy struck during its construction: Caldwell's young daughter Mary Elizabeth suffered fatal burns when her dress caught fire in the basement kitchen oven. She was buried on the property behind the home. Andrew Caldwell himself died in 1866, broken by the devastation the Civil War had brought to his family and estate.

The war had come directly to Octagon Hall. Around 1862, approximately 9,000 Confederate soldiers camped on the property, and the house was commandeered as a field hospital and infirmary. At least two Confederate soldiers died within its walls during this period. When Union forces later occupied the home, they harassed the Caldwell family with accusations of harboring rebels, and the family and their enslaved workers suffered what records describe as heinous atrocities at the hands of Union troops. The violence and death that saturated the property during the war years appear to have left an indelible mark.

The hauntings at Octagon Hall are layered and prolific. The Civil War dead make their presence known through mysterious dragging sounds that echo through the house, as if a wounded soldier is pulling an injured leg across the floor. Shadow figures have been seen staring from the windows, and the apparition of a Confederate soldier has been photographed standing in the driveway. Doors slam without explanation, a wheelchair in one room moves on its own, and unexplained lights have been captured on video throughout the building.

But it is young Mary Elizabeth Caldwell who dominates the paranormal activity. Her spirit has been encountered most frequently in the basement where she died. Visitors report being grabbed on their arms by a small, unseen hand — the grip of a child. Disembodied voices have been recorded asking to play or calling for her mother. Through extensive EVP sessions, investigators have captured Mary's name frequently, and in one notable recording, a child's voice responded to questions about her age by saying "I'm 11" — contradicting the historical record that places her death at age 7, a discrepancy that has never been resolved.

The Octagon Hall Foundation purchased the property in 2001, and Director Billy D. Byrd has operated the site as a nonprofit museum highlighting both its Civil War history and its paranormal reputation. The hall has received national attention through appearances on Syfy's Ghost Hunters, A&E's My Ghost Story, and the Travel Channel's Most Terrifying Places in America and Haunted Live. Expert ghost hunters and paranormal investigation teams from around the world visit throughout the year, and the museum offers investigation tours for those brave enough to spend time in one of the most actively haunted buildings in the American South.