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When Adam Goodheart visited Franklin to conduct research for his April 2005 National Geographic article on the fight to preserve Civil War battlefields, he told lawyer and preservation activist Julian Bibb that he expected the worst. Goodheart knew, as he went on to write in 2005, that many considered Franklin a "lost" battlefield. After all, much of the land upon which Confederate and Union soldiers fought the 1864 Battle of Franklin--the five bloodiest hours of the Civil War--had long since been covered by a country club, a Pizza Hut and other modern images associated with urban sprawl.

"Franklin was going to be the poster child for 'Hey, you're doing it wrong,'" Bibb explains, recalling his lunch with Goodheart. "But Adam saw that something special was happening here. There was a movement afoot to acquire Civil War battlefield property to preserve historical significance and use it as heritage tourism."

When Goodheart's article appeared, it highlighted Franklin's mistakes (along with the mistakes of other battlefield cities and towns), but it also featured Franklin's plans to rectify them. Representatives of state and county preservation and conservation groups had already come together to form a coalition called Franklin's Charge (for which Bibb is a board member), but the article gave them even more energy, as well as credibility in their efforts to raise money to preserve historic open space.

Now, more than two years later, the Pizza Hut has been replaced with a commemorative courtyard, courtesy of the city of Franklin, which purchased the site for $300,000. The country club land, 110 acres known as the Eastern Flank of the battlefield, was purchased with public and private funds for $5 million (the city matched the $2.5 million that Franklin's Charge raised) and is being converted into a Civil War Battlefield park that will provide historic perspective and serve as preserved green space. And the Franklin's Charge group recently closed on another piece of property--a $950,000, 1.25-acre parcel on Columbus Avenue that was the epicenter of the Battle of Franklin.

From a preservation standpoint, Jim Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust, calls Franklin's fundraising achievements "the largest and most successful public/private partnership in the history of Civil War battlefield preservation efforts." And from a tourism and economic development standpoint, it's just plain smart, since the city, along with Williamson County and the state, stands to benefit tremendously.

"The Civil War and heritage traveler is a key market in Williamson County, and it's also a market that tends to stay longer and spend more money in a community, so from an economic side, [preservation efforts] provide a real benefit," says Marc Shore, executive director of the Williamson County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In fact, heritage tourism, which encompasses visits to historical sites such as those related to the Civil War, is the fastest growing segment of the travel market. According to the 2003 "The Historic/Cultural Traveler" study by the Travel Industry Association and Smithsonian magazine, 81% (118 million) of U.S. adults who traveled in 2002 included at least one cultural, arts, historic or heritage activity while on a trip.

Make no mistake, though, Franklin is no stranger to Civil War tourism attractions. The Carter House, a family home that was commandeered as a Union command post before the battle and was the center of much of the fighting, is a national historic landmark that serves as a battle museum. And then there's Carnton Plantation, which witnessed the battle, served as a field hospital and became the final burial place for about 1,500 Confederate soldiers. The home of John and Carrie McGavock, Carnton was the backdrop for Robert Hicks' best selling Civil War novel, Widow of the South, which single-handedly caused an uptick in tourism. (The novel debuted in 2005, and between 2004 and 2007, Carnton saw an 85% increase in visitation.)

But even before Hicks' book came out, both the Carter House and Carnton Plantation were included in a study commissioned by the Civil War Preservation Trust that examined the dollars associated with Civil War battlefields. Titled "Blue, Gray and Green: A Battlefield Benefits Guide for Community Leaders," the 2005 report found that in 2004, non-local visitors to the Carter and Carnton homes supported 32 jobs, generated $122,000 in state taxes and another $63,000 in local government revenues, and spent more than $1.4 million on admissions, food, beverages, lodging and items at local shops during their visits.

With more sites in the works, city and county officials hope those numbers will continue to increase, and when one considers the amount of money that other battlefields pull in, that's not a stretch. The most popular battlefield, Gettysburg, generated $11.8 million in state government revenue and $5.2 million in local revenue, according to the Civil War Preservation Trust report.

But endeavors in the city of Franklin have a long way to go before they reach Gettysburg proportions. The city recently approved a $1.9 million site plan for the Eastern Flank Battlefield Park, which includes the addition of parking spaces and a road that was original to the property in 1864. Shannon Wasielewski, interim planning director and historic preservation officer for the city of Franklin, says the city hopes to finish the road by spring, but other elements of the proposed $11.8 million master plan (which includes a new visitor's center) haven't been approved yet.

"It's at least a 10-year plan," Wasielewski says. "At some point, they'll start looking at interpretation--there are plans to plant tall grasses to show troop movements and add signage that will help with the interpretation--but that will be years down the road."

In addition, Ernie Bacon, president of Franklin's Charge, says the group hopes to recreate a trench line and build a replica of the Carter's cotton gin on the property that they most recently purchased (and on adjacent property owned by the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County). Still, there's yet another adjoining piece of the puzzle that Franklin's Charge would like to own someday, and, coincidentally, it's also home to a pizza parlor--Domino's.

As ambitious as all this may seem, Susan Whitaker, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, says that from a tourism perspective, it's extremely promising. As gas prices continue to climb, she says people have to have a compelling reason to visit a locale.

"With the reclamation of the battlefield, as well as the Carter House and Carnton, which are already attractions, it creates a destination for people who want to go and get involved in not just the history but in the stories involved in history," Whitaker says.

In the meantime, Franklin recently became the first city in Tennessee to receive signage for the Civil War Trails program, which the state joined this year.

"To be linked to a trails program that is already in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia is a win for us," Shore says.

With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War quickly approaching in 2011, Franklin looks to be positioning itself for quite a windfall. Perhaps it is time for National Geographic to pay Williamson County another visit.