Octagon Hall

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Octagon Hall
Octagon Hall Simpson Co. KY.jpg
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Nearest city Franklin, Kentucky
Coordinates 36°48′25″N86°33′25″W / 36.80694°N 86.55694°W / 36.80694; -86.55694 (Octagon Hall)
Area1.8 acres (0.73 ha)
Built1862
NRHP reference No. 80001667 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 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]

Contents

Octagon Hall is located northeast of Franklin, Kentucky on U.S. Route 31W.

Architecture

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]

History

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]

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Talbott, Tim. "Octagon Hall". ExploreKYHistory. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  3. 1 2 pls4e (July 17, 2018). "Octagon Hall". SAH ARCHIPEDIA. Retrieved October 3, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Fowler, Orson Squire (October 8, 2015). The Octagon House: A Home for All. Echo Point Books and Media. ISBN   978-1-62654-266-2.
  5. ↑ Jayne C. Henderson (November 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Octagon Hall / Andrew Jackson Caldwell House". National Park Service . Retrieved March 26, 2019. With accompanying seven photos from 1979
  6. ↑ Lancaster, Clay (July 15, 2014). Antebellum Architecture of Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN   978-0-8131-6168-6.
  7. ↑ jstory@bgdailynews.com 783-3256, JUSTIN STORY The Daily News. "Paranormal group investigates Civil War home". Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved October 3, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "OCTAGON HALL FOUNDATION, LTD. :: Kentucky (US) :: OpenCorporates". opencorporates.com. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Mason, Kim. "Octagon Hall offers celebrity ghost hunts". The Amplifier. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  10. ↑ PURAZRANG, MEGAN. "Historic Octagon Hall still holds many mysteries". Franklin Favorite. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Eerie From All Eight Sides". Bowling Green Living. August 15, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Octagon Hall Civil War Museum".
  13. ↑ "Home". octagonhallmuseum.com.
  14. ↑ ""WLGH" Octagon Hall World's Largest Ghost Hunt - Information". Ticketor. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  15. ↑ Goth, Mitch. "Octagon Hall Museum". Haunted US. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
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