HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
An 1868 Tullahoma home built on a Civil War hospital site where the Baillet sisters' father still sits by the piano — and Jennie still plays
401 S Jackson St, Tullahoma, TN 37388
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission to performances and events varies; ghost walk tickets sold separately through tour operators
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1868 Victorian building; period construction may limit full accessibility
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1868 · Civil War field hospital site (1863 Tullahoma Campaign) · Baillet family Victorian home · Tullahoma community arts anchor
The building at 401 S Jackson Street in Tullahoma was constructed in 1868 for the Baillet sisters, a prominent local family whose father had also lived on the property. The timing of construction — three years after the war's end — placed the building on ground that local historical tradition holds was used as a Union Army field hospital during the 1863 Tullahoma Campaign, the largely overlooked Middle Tennessee offensive that preceded the more famous Chattanooga operations.
The Tullahoma Campaign of June 1863, in which Union General William Rosecrans maneuvered Confederate General Bragg out of Middle Tennessee with relatively little pitched battle, nevertheless left the region marked by troop movements, supply operations, and the medical infrastructure that followed armies of that era. The site at S Jackson Street, near the town center, would have been a plausible hospital location.
After generations of Baillet family use, the property was eventually transferred to civic use and became the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center, which administers it as a community arts and performance venue. The combination of Victorian-era domestic architecture, deep local family associations, and the underlying Civil War hospital history gives the building an unusual density of accumulated narrative.
Sources
The paranormal reports from the Tullahoma Fine Arts Center fall into three consistent categories. First, olfactory phenomena: staff and visitors report the smell of gunpowder and cigars in rooms where no one has smoked and where no obvious source exists. These scents have been linked by local interpretation to the building's Civil War hospital associations and to the memory of the Baillet sisters' father, who was a cigar smoker.
Second, the apparition of an elderly man, believed by local tradition to be the Baillet sisters' father, has been reported sitting near the piano in what was once the family's parlor. The figure is described as stationary and self-contained — not threatening, simply present.
Third, and most specific, staff have reported hearing piano music in the building when no one is at the instrument and the building is otherwise unoccupied. Local tradition attributes this to Jennie Baillet, one of the sisters who was known to play. The Tullahoma News documented all three phenomena in a 2019 feature on the building's history, and the venue appears on Tullahoma's organized ghost walk route.
Notable Entities
The Fine Arts Center is a featured stop on Tullahoma's organized ghost walk, where guides recount the Baillet family history, the Civil War hospital site, and the paranormal reports from staff and visitors.
The Tullahoma Fine Arts Center hosts performances and community events year-round in this 1868 building with its distinctive Civil War-era history.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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