Natchez Street, also known as “Baptist Neck” because of the three churches that occupy each end and the midpoint of Natchez Street: the 1925 Gothic Revivalstyle Shorter Chapel A.M.E Church at 152 Fowlkes Street; the 1972 Modernist-style Providence United Primitive Baptist Church at 377 Natchez Street; and the First Missionary Baptist Church at 113 Natchez Street. More notable African American churches include the Wiley Memorial Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church at 112 2nd Avenue South, Pleasant Valley Primitive Baptist Church at 604 Mount Hope Street, and the Green Street Church of God at 915 Green Street. Educational Facilities Few historic school buildings remain in Franklin. The Battle Ground Academy, established in 1899, moved their campus to Columbia Avenue and Everbright Avenue in 1902. The new campus evolved to include a dormitory in 1922 and, later, a gymnasium. By 2003, the Battle Ground Academy had relocated to their current campus at 336 Ernest Rice Lane on the grounds of the former Glen Echo plantation (NRHP 1976). The 1922 dormitory has been demolished and one of the campus buildings is now occupied by the Renaissance School. Natchez High School was built in 1946 at 335 Natchez Street to replace earlier schools. When it was built, it was the only high school in Williamson County for African American students and remained so until desegregation. It still stands and now serves as the Claiborne & Hughes Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Franklin High School was constructed during Franklin’s expansion of the mid-1950s at 810 Hillsboro Road. The mid-century building underwent a major two-story expansion on the front of the building in 2006, but the older portion of the structure is still visible from the rear. The Lee-Buckner Rosenwald School was constructed in 1917 in rural Williamson County, which was one of four Rosenwald-funded schools that served African Americans in the county. In 2024, the Heritage Foundation moved the school to its current location in Franklin adjacent to the Winstead House (NRHP 1979). Transportation Resources Since its founding, residents of Franklin have relied on roads as their primary form of transportation. Many of these roads have been locally designated Heritage Roads in honor of their historic significance. These include the streets of downtown Franklin, portions of Franklin Road, Columbia Pike, and Carter’s Creek Pike. The Nashville and Decatur Railroad arrived in Franklin in 1855 and provided freight and passenger transportation to the river ports in Nashville and Alabama. The Tennessee and Alabama Railroad soon took over the corridor and constructed a brick freight depot in 1858 on Margin Street southeast of the town square. Cultural Landscapes Cemeteries formed some of the first public parks in Franklin. Established in 1811 on land owned by the Presbyterian Church, the Franklin City Cemetery (NRHP 2012) was the first formal burying ground in Franklin. The cemetery is on the east side of 4th Avenue North at North Margin Street. Adjacent to the City Cemetery, Rest Haven Cemetery (NRHP 2012) is a 7-acre cemetery at 324 4th Avenue North. The earliest burials at Rest Haven date from the 1840s though the cemetery was not formally established until 1855. The Mt. Hope Cemetery, established 20 FRANKLIN, TN | PRESERVATION PLAN
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