What Waits in the Dark Adults Only Tour

Known to locals as Cherry Manor, the Perkins-Howarth House carries a reputation that’s hard to ignore, and even harder to explain. Once a Civil War hospital and later a school and nursing home, the home has witnessed generations of life, death, and turmoil. Many who stand before it describe a heavy, almost oppressive feeling, as if the past hasn’t quite let go. Stories of moving objects, ghostly figures in military dress, and a lingering female presence have made this one of Franklin’s most chilling locations. Some guests don’t stay long, whatever resides here doesn’t always welcome company.

Not all hauntings come with shadows and footsteps. At the McPhail-Cliffe Office, the presence is quieter, but no less powerful. This former home witnessed a love story born during the Civil War and ended in unimaginable loss. Belle Cliffe Brownlow, her husband, and their children all died within a short span of time, leaving behind a space filled with sorrow and memory. Guests often describe a lingering heaviness here, as if the building itself remembers. It’s a different kind of haunting, one rooted not in fear, but in heartbreak.

At first glance, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is peaceful, almost serene. But beneath its historic beauty lies a far darker past. During the Civil War, the church was transformed into a makeshift hospital, filled with the sounds of suffering and death. Many believe that energy never left. Guests have reported hearing footsteps echoing through empty spaces, spotting shadowy figures near the graveyard, and feeling an unexplained presence watching from just out of sight. Some even claim to have seen a ghostly soldier still wandering the grounds, as if the war never ended.

This marker honors the soldiers who fought and fell during the Battle of Franklin, a conflict that transformed the entire town into a battlefield. The violence didn’t stay contained, it spread through homes, churches, and streets, leaving behind a legacy of unimaginable loss. Visitors often describe a strange stillness here, as if time briefly pauses. It’s not a place of loud hauntings, but of quiet remembrance, where the past feels closer than it should.