Octagon Hall | |
Nearest city | Franklin, Kentucky |
---|---|
Coordinates | 36°48′25″N 86°33′25″W / 36.80694°N 86.55694°W |
Area | 1.8 acres (0.73 ha) |
Built | 1862 |
NRHP reference No. | 80001667[1] |
Added to NRHP | April 10, 1980 |
Octagon Hall is an eight-sided house in Simpson County, Kentucky near Franklin, Kentucky completed around 1860.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1] It has also been known as the Andrew Jackson Caldwell House after the man who built the house. There is a second contributing building on the property, a detached summer kitchen.[3]
Octagon Hall is located northeast of Franklin, Kentucky on U.S. Route 31W.
It is a red brick, two-story octagonal house with a high basement. The octagonal plan was likely inspired by Orson Squire Fowler's 1848 book, The Octagon House: A Home for All, which developed a trend in American architecture starting in the 1850s.[4] It is one of two surviving octagonal structures in Kentucky.[3]
The three front facades have brick laid in Flemish bond, while brickwork is common bond elsewhere.[5]
In 1847, Andrew Jackson Caldwell laid out the foundation for a distinctive new family home. By 1860, Caldwell was living there with his wife Harriet Morton Caldwell, daughters Frances, Mary, and Martha, and son Henry.[2]
During the Civil War, Octagon Hall served as a hospital for both Confederate and Union soldiers. It also doubled as a hideout for Confederate troops on the run from the Union army.[citation needed]
Harriet Caldwell lived in the house after her husband's death in 1866.[6] After 1916, the property was sold to Miles Williams, a Nashville doctor.[2]
In 2001, the property was purchased by the Octagon Hall Foundation.[7] Director Billy D. Byrd has operated the site as a non-profit museum and local attraction,[8] highlighting the paranormal experiences he has reported there.[9][10][11] Currently, it is the site of the Octagon Hall Museum & Kentucky Confederate Studies Archive. It includes a library, a display of Civil War artifacts, Native American artifacts, and genealogical and historical research material. A slave cemetery and historic gardens are on the grounds.[12]
Octagon Hall has been promoted and popularized as a haunted place.[9][13][14] Octagon Hall has been featured on A&E, Syfy, History Channel, Discovery Channel, and many others. It was featured on Haunted Live on the Travel Channel in 2018.[15]