{{short description|Historic house in Kentucky, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Octagon Hall | nrhp_type = | image = Octagon Hall Simpson Co. KY.jpg | caption = | nearest_city= Franklin, Kentucky | coordinates = {{coord|36|48|25|N|86|33|25|W|source:NRIS2013a|name=Octagon Hall|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = Kentucky#USA | built = 1862 | added = April 10, 1980 | area = {{convert|1.8|acre|ha}} | refnum = 80001667<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref> }}
'''Octagon Hall''' is an eight-sided house in Simpson County, Kentucky near Franklin, Kentucky completed around 1860.<ref name="Talbott">{{Cite web|last=Talbott|first=Tim|title=Octagon Hall|url=https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/750|access-date=2021-10-03|website=ExploreKYHistory|language=en}}</ref> It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.<ref name=nris/> 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.<ref name="pls4e">{{Cite web|last=pls4e|date=2018-07-17|title=Octagon Hall|url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/KY-01-213-0061|access-date=2021-10-03|website=SAH ARCHIPEDIA|language=en}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fowler|first=Orson Squire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYMdjgEACAAJ|title=The Octagon House: A Home for All|date=2015-10-08|publisher=Echo Point Books and Media|isbn=978-1-62654-266-2|language=en}}</ref> It is one of two surviving octagonal structures in Kentucky.<ref name="pls4e"/>
The three front facades have brick laid in Flemish bond, while brickwork is common bond elsewhere.<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=80001667}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Octagon Hall / Andrew Jackson Caldwell House |publisher=National Park Service|author=Jayne C. Henderson |date=November 1979 |accessdate=March 26, 2019}} With {{NRHP url|id=80001667|photos=y|title=accompanying seven photos from 1979}}</ref>
==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.<ref name="Talbott"/>
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|date=October 2021}}
Harriet Caldwell lived in the house after her husband's death in 1866.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lancaster|first=Clay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7kfBgAAQBAJ&dq=Andrew%20Jackson%20Caldwell%20House%20franklin%20ky&pg=PA297|title=Antebellum Architecture of Kentucky|date=2014-07-15|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-6168-6|language=en}}</ref> After 1916, the property was sold to Miles Williams, a Nashville doctor.<ref name="Talbott"/>
In 2001, the property was purchased by the Octagon Hall Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|last=jstory@bgdailynews.com 783-3256|first=JUSTIN STORY The Daily News|title=Paranormal group investigates Civil War home|url=https://www.bgdailynews.com/news/paranormal-group-investigates-civil-war-home/article_9c5a2e06-e299-5e2b-919b-49866d21f6c7.html|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Bowling Green Daily News|language=en}}</ref> Director Billy D. Byrd has operated the site as a non-profit museum and local attraction,<ref>{{Cite web|title=OCTAGON HALL FOUNDATION, LTD. :: Kentucky (US) :: OpenCorporates|url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ky/0526249|access-date=2021-10-03|website=opencorporates.com}}</ref> highlighting the paranormal experiences he has reported there.<ref name="Mason">{{Cite web|last=Mason|first=Kim|title=Octagon Hall offers celebrity ghost hunts|url=https://www.bgamplifier.com/community/octagon-hall-offers-celebrity-ghost-hunts/article_c6061cbf-8747-5e4d-979c-509409615a68.html|access-date=2021-10-03|website=The Amplifier|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=PURAZRANG|first=MEGAN|title=Historic Octagon Hall still holds many mysteries|url=https://www.franklinfavorite.com/article_802d072c-87b5-5e5d-a359-b9e4ee2d4d66.html|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Franklin Favorite|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-08-15|title=Eerie From All Eight Sides|url=https://www.bgkyliving.com/features/eerie-from-all-eight-sides/|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Bowling Green Living|language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.kentuckytourism.com/octagon-hall-civil-war-museum/ | title=Octagon Hall Civil War Museum }}</ref>
==In popular culture== Octagon Hall has been promoted and popularized as a haunted place.<ref name="Mason"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.octagonhallmuseum.com/ |title=Home |website=octagonhallmuseum.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title="WLGH" Octagon Hall World's Largest Ghost Hunt - Information|url=https://www.ticketor.com/event/wlgh-octagon-hall-171336?treferrer=ticketor%7e1%7e|access-date=2021-10-03|website=Ticketor|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goth|first=Mitch|title=Octagon Hall Museum|url=https://hauntedus.com/kentucky/octagon-hall-museum/|access-date=2023-04-13|website=Haunted US|language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:Octagon houses in the United States Category:National Register of Historic Places in Simpson County, Kentucky Category:Houses completed in 1862 Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Category:1862 establishments in Kentucky Category:Houses in Simpson County, Kentucky Category:Historic house museums in Kentucky