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Reported phenomena, as catalogued
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1858 German immigrant craftsman's home turned field hospital on the Battle of Franklin's front line — scarred by cannonball impacts still visible today
1111 Columbia Avenue, Franklin, TN 37064
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
General admission for self-guided tours of the house and museum. Saturday evening ghost tours are priced separately. Check lotzhouse.com for current rates.
Access
Limited Access
Antebellum two-story frame house with original staircase; tight interior spaces throughout
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1858 · Battle of Franklin — Front-Line Structure · Confederate and Union Field Hospital · German Immigrant Craftsman Heritage Site · Preserved Civil War Battle Damage
Johann Albert Lotz emigrated from Württemberg, Germany, in the mid-19th century and settled in Franklin, Tennessee, where he established himself as a skilled furniture maker and piano builder. He completed the Italianate-style frame house at 1111 Columbia Avenue in 1858, just south of the Carter House — his neighbor on the same main road into town.
The house's position placed it at the center of the most heavily contested ground during the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The Confederate Army of Tennessee's assault at approximately 4:00 PM sent roughly 19,000 soldiers in a frontal attack directly across the open ground north of the Carter House and Lotz House. Both properties were immediately behind and within the Union defensive perimeter. The chaos of the assault swept directly over and around the structures.
The Lotz House absorbed cannonball damage during the fighting. The impact points remain visible on the exterior and interior today — the museum has preserved rather than repaired them. By nightfall, Confederate and Union officers had commandeered the house as a field hospital, and the wounded of both armies were treated inside through the night of November 30 and into December.
The Lotz family, who sheltered during the battle, returned to a house that had been fundamentally altered by one night of combat. Johann Albert Lotz continued to live and work in the property in the years after the war. The house eventually passed out of family ownership and through multiple private owners before being acquired and restored as a museum.
The Travel Channel has cited the Lotz House in programming about the most haunted locations in the United States. The house operates independently of the adjacent Battle of Franklin Trust sites (Carter House and Carnton) and runs its own tours and events.
Sources
Lotz House sits on ground where the Battle of Franklin's Confederate assault reached its most concentrated point on November 30, 1864. The paranormal reports that have accumulated over the decades reflect that intensity: the accounts are not quiet or ambient but sharp — sudden yells from the outside perimeter of the building, loud impacts with no physical cause, figures moving through the interior rooms in ways that are visible but don't belong to any known person present.
Shadow figures are the most consistently documented phenomenon. Visitors and staff describe them as wearing clothing consistent with Civil War-era military dress, moving through the rooms that served as the field hospital in the night after the battle. The figures are described as semi-translucent — perceived in peripheral vision and sometimes directly — before disappearing without transition.
US Ghost Adventures and regional paranormal researchers document the disembodied yell as a distinct and frequently reported phenomenon, heard from outside the building by visitors who subsequently confirm no one was present. The acoustic quality of the reports is consistent with confusion, which fits the documented chaos of the night of November 30.
The Travel Channel's 'Most Terrifying Places in America' segment gave the Lotz House national paranormal-tourism prominence. The house's Saturday ghost tours, run seasonally by museum staff, present the reported accounts alongside the documented history of the battle and the building's role in it.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Self-paced tour of the 1858 Lotz House and its Civil War museum collection. The house retains cannonball-impact damage from November 30, 1864. The museum's collection of antique furniture, handmade pianos, and Württemberg immigrant craftsmanship provides context for Johann Albert Lotz's story alongside the battle artifacts.
Seasonal Saturday evening ghost tours of the Lotz House offered by the museum, focusing on documented visitor and staff paranormal reports including shadow figures in Civil War uniforms and disembodied voices. Tour schedule and availability subject to change; confirm current dates through the website.
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This Franklin tour includes Lotz House Civil War Museum on its route.
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Franklin, TN
The Carter House in Franklin, Tennessee, was built in 1830 by Fountain Branch Carter. On November 30, 1864, it served as the command post for Union Brigadier General Jacob Cox during the Battle of Franklin while the Carter family sheltered in the basement. The house and outbuildings absorbed more than 1,000 bullet impacts that night — one of the highest concentrations of Civil War bullet damage on any standing structure. Carter's son Tod, a Confederate captain, was mortally wounded in the battle and died in the house two days later.
Franklin, TN
Carnton, built in 1826 in Franklin, Tennessee, served as the largest temporary Confederate field hospital after the November 30, 1864, Battle of Franklin. Approximately 300 wounded soldiers were treated inside the house in a single night, and four Confederate generals' bodies were laid out on the back porch the following morning. Carrie and John McGavock later donated land for the McGavock Confederate Cemetery on the property — the largest privately owned military cemetery in the United States.
Winston-Salem, NC
The Salem Tavern was built in 1784 to serve travelers stopping in the Moravian settlement at Salem, North Carolina. The Moravian congregation built and operated the tavern — a common enterprise in Moravian settlements — as a source of revenue and a place of hospitality for outsiders. President George Washington lodged here in May 1791 during his Southern Tour, an event documented in his own diary.