Lotz House and Carter House- Franklin Tennessee

We started our day in Franklin Tennessee visiting the Lotz House.  Here, we purchased a $30 ticket that allowed us to visit this home, and two others.

Our tour guide was JT Thompson, who I would find out later has had a HUGE influence on the preservation of this house.  For now, we could tell that he had a very sincere love of this home and its history.  He told us many stories about the home, the family that once lived there, and the soldiers who were there during the Battle of Franklin.  He also playfully talked about etiquette of the time, the length of ladies dresses, and the fact that people ate a lot less in the 1860s.

I don't want to ruin it if you plan on visiting, but a couple of stories were very touching.  JT pointed out that you could see blood stains on the floor in one room.  AND, you could tell that soldiers were sitting against the wall, as the stains were shaped like backsides.

Another story involved a young girl who grew up at the home, and watched a Union soldier in need of food shoot her cow.  The young girl went on to become a legendary artist.

Our tour was incredible, as JT told us what he knew.  Our group was small, there was another pleasant family from Alabama that we kept bumping in to during the day!  They made our tour fun too!

Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside of the homes.  There were plenty of postcards and books available though.  At the Lotz House, they have an AMAZING gift shop, and I dropped a lot of coin.  They had some nice and affordable relics too.  I also couldn't leave without picking up a book that our tour guide co-wrote!  More on that one soon!

Along with our friends from Alabama, we next went to the Carter House.  This was another historic home, with a great tour guide.  Our guide, David Van Dyke, let us know that he actually had a great-grandfather who fought at the Battle of Franklin.  Having an actual descendant there to talk about the Battle was great.

Again, I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone going there, but, like at the Lotz House, there is a similarly sad story about a Confederate Soldier connected to this home.

The home, the buildings outside of the home, and the basement all have stories to tell concerning the Battle of Franklin.