MAIN STREET WAS IMPROVED AND REVITALIZED Seeing the need for action to rescue Main Street and downtown Franklin from irreparable decline, the Heritage Foundation led the way to advocate for a Main Street Streetscape Improvement Program in the 1980s. This project redesigned the Public Square with significant increases in green space and tree canopy, enhanced sidewalks on Main Street, planted street trees, and removed utility poles and relocated overhead infrastructure underground. They gathered support and convinced building owners to remove the aluminum storefront coverings to let the historic facades of the buildings shine once again and to remove the highwayscale signage. Only one sign, considered the best one, still remains-Gray’s Drugs. WINSTEAD HILL BECAME A PUBLIC PARK In the 1990s, the City purchased 61 acres of land along Columbia Pike (U.S. 31) adjacent to the privately owned Winstead Hill Ridge for use as a city park. This land was the site of important events during the Battle of Franklin. LOTZ HOUSE BECAME A CIVIL WAR HOUSE MUSEUM In the early to mid-1990’s several important steps were taken that enhanced Civil War preservation efforts in Franklin. In 1991, a private group acquired the Lotz House on Columbia Avenue, and they converted the property into a Civil War museum dedicated to the Lotz family and their experience during the Civil War. Constructed in 1858 by Johann Albert Lotz, a master carpenter and piano maker, the Lotz House was severely damaged during the 1864 Battle of Franklin and after the battle, it served as a hospital for wounded soldiers. After the Lotz family moved in 1869, the building had many uses, including apartments, a sandwich shop, offices, a cooking school, and a retail store. The Heritage Foundation purchased the building in 1972 for $25,000 to prevent it from being demolished. With the acquisition in 1991, the Lotz House became a part of Franklin’s Civil War fabric. FRANKLIN TURNED ITS EYE TOWARD PRESERVING CIVIL WAR HISTORY Perhaps the most significant steps were taken when in 1992, 1993 and 1994, the Heritage Foundation turned its attention to preservation of Franklin’s Civil War history. In each of those years, the Heritage Foundation collaborated with local, state, and federal agencies, as well as the APCWS and the Civil War Trust (the predecessor organizations to the American Battlefield Trust) to hold annual preservation conferences focused in part on reclaiming portions of the Franklin battlefield. These conferences were some of the first organized discussions during the modern preservation movement in Franklin that examined the potential of battlefield reclamation. 75
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