Why Franklin
Franklin is a city in Middle Tennessee, serving as the county seat of Williamson County approximately 21 miles south of Nashville. Spanning 41.4 square miles, the community developed along both banks of the Harpeth River, a tributary of the Cumberland River. It stands as the seventh-most populous city in Tennessee, featuring extensive growth that has expanded in all directions from its historic core.
Originally inhabited by seven Native American tribes, the municipality was founded on October 26, 1799, by Abram Maury Jr., who named the town after Benjamin Franklin. European settlement in the immediate area dates to 1798, when Ewen Cameron constructed the location's first log house. Throughout the nineteenth century and into the mid-twentieth century, Franklin functioned as the central commercial and judicial marketplace for an agricultural county known for raising livestock and growing commodity crops like tobacco and hemp.
The town was the site of significant military action during the American Civil War, most notably the Second Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The battle generated nearly 10,000 casualties and required forty-four local structures to be temporarily converted into field hospitals. Notable surviving architectural examples from this period include the Carter, Carnton, and Lotz houses. Today, municipal regulations safeguard many older structures and neighborhoods, and five distinct historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Visitors to the area can observe several public monuments that trace the town's history. On the central town square, a Confederate soldier statue erected in 1899 stands alongside historic educational plaques and a statue installed in 2021 honoring the United States Colored Troops. On the grounds of the Williamson County Archives, an armed forces memorial features engraved circular bricks commemorating local military personnel, including Congressional Medal of Honor recipient George Jordan.
Another point of interest is the former Dortch Stove Works factory, built in 1928 and later used to produce appliances. Following its closure, the complex underwent extensive restoration in the late 1990s as an adaptive reuse project, transforming the industrial property into space for offices, retail, dining, and public events. Alongside these preserved sites, northern sections of Franklin house modern commercial developments, service industries, and corporate headquarters.
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