most of the activity here at the Carter House actually occurs within the home itself, you will probably need to enter the building during regular business hours in order to experience the ghosts. The building itself is open for tours from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the week, and tours cost $12 a person. The grounds of the house are included on the tour, so you are unable to explore the grounds and the battlefield unless you pay admission.
At 5 p.m., the building and grounds close to the public, so if you want to experience some of the ghostly activity here, it would have to be before the house closes. Luckily, though, a lot of the activity here does happen during the day, and you may just get that chance to encounter one of these spirits.
CLOVER BOTTOM MANSION
2941 Lebanon Rd., Nashville, TN 37243
directions
Take I-40 East for about 6 miles to the Briley Parkway exit, Exit 215B. Follow this road for about 2 miles to the Lebanon Pike exit, Exit 8. Turn right onto Lebanon Pike, and follow the road for a little more than 2 miles. The Clover Bottom Mansion will be on your right.
history
Easily one of the largest plantations in the Nashville area, Clover Bottom was constructed in 1854 by a man named Dr. James Hoggatt. Only two years after its original construction, a tragic fire hit the mansion and did extensive damage to it. When reconstructing the building, Hoggatt decided to give the façade a more original and artistic appearance that it originally had. The Italianate style of today’s building was added to the mansion after the fire in 1856.
The plantation did quite well, and at one point more than 60 slaves worked on the extensive property. Eventually, Dr. Hoggatt contracted a disease that slowly wasted him away. He died in the house after a long bout with the mysterious illness.
ghost story
The ghosts that inhabit the Clover Bottom Mansion tend to haunt the building by making sounds. Most of these sounds come in the form of footsteps. Generally these footsteps will be clearly audible even though the people who hear them are certain that they are the only living people within the building.
Many of these footsteps sound very distinctly from a different time period. When downstairs in the house, people will hear the sound of wooden-heeled shoes clicking against the wood floor overhead. The upstairs is accessible only to staff, and even when no staff members are supposedly upstairs, these footsteps are still clearly heard. People will also sometimes hear the sounds of rustling skirts throughout the house, even when there are no women wearing skirts anywhere nearby.
visiting
Entering the downstairs of this building is easy. It is free to tour the downstairs of the building mostly because it is not set up as any kind of museum but rather serves as the offices of the Tennessee Historical Commission. If you want a historic tour of a magnificent mansion, you will be disappointed if you go to Clover Bottom Mansion; but if you want to visit a haunted historic mansion to listen for ghostly footsteps, you couldn’t ask for a better price of admission than free.
CRAGFONT
200 Cragfont Rd., Castalian Springs, TN 37031
directions
Exit downtown Nashville by taking I-65 North for about 11 miles to Exit 95. Take Exit 95, TN 386 North toward Hendersonville/Gallatin. Take TN 386 for 16 miles, and then turn right onto the entrance ramp to TN 109 South. Follow TN 109 for about 7 miles, and then turn right onto Hartsville Pike. After another 3.5 miles, turn left onto Cragfont Road. The Cragfont mansion will be on your right.
history
The original Cragfont home was built in 1785 and was a simple log cabin on a high bluff. It was built by two men, James and George Winchester, who were important figures in the early history of Tennessee. George was eventually killed by Native Americans in nearby Gallatin, leaving James the property. James decided to build an opulent mansion on the site of the original cabin.
By 1802, the mansion was completed and was considered by many to be the grandest home west of the Appalachian Mountains. James was involved in Tennessee politics, becoming the speaker of the Tennessee senate at one point in his career. The house itself would host many of the most important people in Tennessee, such as Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston.
James Winchester died in the house in 1826, but the house stayed with the family until the death of James’s wife, Susan, in 1864. The home switched owners several times before the State of Tennessee purchased the house in 1958 and opened it to the public.
ghost story
Many strange things happen at the Cragfont mansion. Most of the time, these strange events occur after the building has been locked up for the night. Caretakers will often return to the building after it has been closed, only to find things very different from the way they were left the night before. Furniture will be moved to different places throughout the rooms. Beds that were neatly made the previous night will appear to have been slept in during the night. Candles that were unlit the night before will be lit when the building is opened in the morning.
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