Lotz House Cellar Tour Promises Hands-on History

The newly relaunched Hands On History Cellar Tour at the Lotz House isn’t for everyone.

History fans are invited to sift through the dirt in the historic home’s foundation at 1111 Columbia Ave. in Franklin, helping to uncover the history of one of the epicenters of the Civil War’s Battle of Franklin of 1864. 

Host historian Tony Morreale’s enthusiasm is contagious. 

“Who knows what’s under here?” Morreale says. “That’s really the allure of it. It’s a unique opportunity for history lovers to literally get dirty and help find history.” 

In 2013, archaeologists completed an excavation project in the cellar that yielded as many as 900 Civil War relics, but Morreale says there’s even more to be discovered. When Williamson Scene visited, just one shovel full of dirt yielded old pieces of coal and glass. Visitors will be able to take their findings home, but the Lotz House will keep the most historically relevant items. 

In the cellar, excavators have found a piece of a coal-burning stove, and straw matting from when the Lotz family took shelter there during the Civil War. Searches have also yielded bullets, leather goods, buttons, spoons, glass bottles, and a tintype photograph. 

“It doesn't matter who you are. That's not something that you willingly just leave behind,” Morreale said of the tintype. “Maybe it falls out of your pocket. Maybe if you're a soldier, you're injured and you lose it. But that's probably the most poignant piece of history.”

The historic items won’t be planted, and one doesn’t have to be an archaeologist to take part, Morreale says. The best thing he found personally was a porcelain doll hand, with the help of his daughter. 

“When you find a doll part, it has nothing to do with war and has everything to do with a kid playing in the cellar, and it humanizes everything,” Morreale says. “A lot of people get wrapped up in, battle, battle, battle. This is a better, bigger story.”