Places · Landmark
Carter House
The Carter family's brick farmhouse of about 1830 on Columbia Avenue, the Union command post at the center of the Battle of Franklin. The farm office and smokehouse still carry more than a thousand bullet and shrapnel holes. The state owns it, and the Battle of Franklin Trust gives the tours.
The facts
Where and what.
- What it is
- Landmark, historic house
- Town
- Franklin, Williamson County
- Website
- boft.org
- Phone
- 615-791-1861
- Hours
- Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., by the Battle of Franklin Trust (the state's page says Sunday from 11). The last guided tour starts at 4. Closed New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
- What it costs
- House tour: $22 for adults, $14 for children 6 to 15. Specialty tours: $29. One ticket for Carnton and the Carter House is $27 on the houses' pages and $28 on the Trust's ticket page; the Tennessee Campaign ticket, which adds Rippa Villa, is $40.
- Parking
- Free, in the lot entered from West Fowlkes Street off Columbia Avenue. The Battle of Franklin Trust gives the address as 125 West Fowlkes Street.
- What is there
- Guided house tours, plus extended, battlefield, slavery and the enslaved, and All Men Are Created Equal tours.
- The farm office and smokehouse, with more than a thousand bullet and shrapnel holes.
- Union Gen. Jacob D. Cox used the parlor as his headquarters on November 30, 1864, while the Carters and their neighbors sheltered in the basement.
- Capt. Tod Carter, a son of the family, was mortally wounded near the house and died in it on December 2, 1864.
- A new visitor center, the Herbert Harper Visitor Center, broke ground in March 2025; the Trust says it opens in 2026.
- A National Historic Landmark. By 1860 Fountain Branch Carter enslaved 28 people on the 288-acre farm.
- Sources
- Battle of Franklin Trust: the Carter House
- Battle of Franklin Trust: the Carter House's history
- Battle of Franklin Trust: the visitor center and museum
- Battle of Franklin Trust: hours and directions
- Tennessee Historical Commission: Carter House State Historic Site
- City of Franklin address locator: 1140 Columbia Ave
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Nearby
Also in Franklin.
Lotz House.
The house Johann Albert Lotz, a German-born carpenter and piano maker, finished in 1858 across Columbia Avenue from the Carter House. It took cannon fire in the battle and then served as a hospital for both armies. The Lotz House Foundation runs it as a museum, and the woodwork is the reason to go.
Franklin Road Apparel Company.
A men's and women's clothing store that carries denim from labels such as Naked & Famous and Red Wing boots. Ken Thwaits founded it in 2017.
Palmer Kennedy.
A Christian boutique selling women's consignment clothing alongside new faith-themed apparel, jewelry, Bibles and gifts. It opened in Westhaven in March 2025 and moved to Main Street in early 2026.
Finnleys.
A women's clothing and jewelry boutique. Its site calls the Main Street store the one where the business started; it also has a store on 12th Avenue South in Nashville.
heylee b.
A women's clothing boutique and beauty bar next to Sweet Cece's, run by a makeup artist who has worked in the trade for more than 20 years.
Awaken TN.
An organic mattress and sleep store with an apothecary, selling Naturepedic mattresses, organic pillows and related goods. The Redmond family took over 434 Main Street on Jan. 1, 2019, and opened a month later.
sanctuaire.
A jewelry and women's clothing shop from Sanctuary Project, a brand Holly Christine Hayes founded in 2018 that says it gives 10 percent of profits to support vulnerable women and communities. It held its Main Street grand opening on Nov. 3, 2025.
The Franklin Theatre.
The 1937 movie house on Main Street, closed in 2007 and reopened in 2011 after the Heritage Foundation spent more than $8 million restoring it. It shows films and puts on concerts, plays and dance in about 300 seats.