# Octagon Hall

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octagon_Hall
> Source revision: 1303159659
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{{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](/source/Franklin%2C_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](/source/Simpson_County%2C_Kentucky) near [Franklin, Kentucky](/source/Franklin%2C_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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/U.S._Route_31W_(Kentucky)).

==Architecture==
It is a red brick, two-story [octagonal house](/source/octagon_house) with a high basement. The octagonal plan was likely inspired by [Orson Squire Fowler](/source/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](/source/Flemish_bond), while brickwork is [common bond](/source/common_bond_(brick)) 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](/source/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](/source/Octagon_Hall_Museum_%26_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](/source/A%26E_(TV_network)), [Syfy](/source/Syfy), [History Channel](/source/History_Channel), [Discovery Channel](/source/Discovery_Channel), and many others. It was featured on ''[Haunted Live](/source/Haunted_Live)'' on the [Travel Channel](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Octagon Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octagon_Hall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octagon_Hall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.