Cragfont

Cragfont went up from 1798 to 1802, when Middle Tennessee was still frontier country. The late-Georgian stone house stands at Castalian Springs and works today as a state historic site.

Maryland artisans did the work, for General James Winchester: a Revolutionary War officer, a brigadier general in the War of 1812, and a co-founder of Memphis. He died here on July 26, 1826.

The National Register of Historic Places listed Cragfont on February 26, 1970, as reference number 70000618. The State of Tennessee owns the site, and the nonprofit Historic Castalian Springs runs it.

Enslaved people lived and worked at Cragfont, and the site now names them room by room in framed silhouettes. A reconstructed kitchen and quarters carry the name of Delphy, an enslaved cook.

Visitors and caretakers report apparitions, unexplained noises, and candles found lit in the windows after staff have left. One account has the singer Conway Twitty describing candlesticks flying at him.

Nell Satterwhite grew up in the house in the 1890s and wrote in her diary of her “ghostly friends,” with one entry describing “the cold clasp of a hand” at dinner.

Guided tours run April to mid-November, Thursday to Sunday, at 10 am, 12 pm, and 2 pm. Admission is charged, and a winter visit needs a call ahead.