Cragfont

Cragfont is a late-Georgian stone mansion in Castalian Springs, northeast of Nashville, once the finest house on the Tennessee frontier. It is a state historic site now, on the National Register since 1970.

General James Winchester commissioned it: Revolutionary War officer, War of 1812 brigadier general, co-founder of Memphis. Maryland artisans built it from 1798 to 1802, and Winchester died here on July 26, 1826.

Its Hidden History tours name the people enslaved here: framed silhouettes in each room, and the reconstructed kitchen of Delphy, an enslaved cook. The program won a Leadership in History Award of Excellence.

Visitors and caretakers report apparitions, unexplained noises, and objects that move. The account goes that candles turn up lit in the windows after staff have left for the day.

One account names Conway Twitty: candlesticks, the story goes, flew at the country singer during a visit. Tellers tie the activity to the house’s violent early years and the Winchester family.

Nell Satterwhite grew up here in the 1890s and wrote of the house’s “ghostly friends” in her diary, including a dinner where guests felt “the cold clasp of a hand” under the table.

By her own account, Nell spent her last night at Cragfont alone, to say goodbye to the ghosts.

The earliest written record of the ghosts is the diary itself, kept in the 1890s while the mansion was still a family home. WKRN’s Haunted Tennessee series traces the accounts back to it.

Guided tours only, April to mid-November, Thursday to Sunday, at 10, 12, and 2. Historic Castalian Springs runs it with a small staff; winter visits are by phone, so confirm before driving out.