The City of Franklin is in Williamson County in Middle Tennessee, about fifteen miles south of Nashville. Prior to the County’s settlement by white Europeans, the area was home to five prehistoric cultures— (01) tribes of Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Shawnees. These native peoples settled in fortified villages along the Harpeth River and its tributaries. By 1798, a small number of white settlers were permanently established in the area. In 1799, (02) Abram Maury laid out the Town of Franklin on 109 acres of his property, utilizing a grid system. Maury named the town after Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States. On October 26, 1799, the Tennessee General Assembly established Williamson County and its county seat in Franklin. The decades preceding the Civil War were a time of great prosperity for Franklin. Williamson County was the third-wealthiest county in Tennessee, deriving its riches from productive soil, timber, and livestock. Enslavement was an integral part of the local economy. By 1850, planters and smaller slaveholders in the county held in bondage some 13,000 enslaved Black people, who made up nearly half the county’s population of more than 27,000 people. Many of Franklin’s historic homes and civic buildings were constructed during this period as it developed into the county’s primary commercial, industrial, and educational center. In 1819, Hinchey Petway established the town’s first subdivision, which became known as Hincheyville. In 1823, construction began on the first Masonic Lodge in Tennessee using funds gathered from the first legal lottery in the state. At the time of its completion, the three-story Gothic Revival building was the tallest building west of the Allegheny Mountains. The County Courthouse, a Greek Revival landmark, was built on the Public Square in 1858. During the pre-Civil War era, transportation improvements spurred the region’s economy forward. In the 1830s, private toll turnpikes were constructed, connecting Franklin with Nashville, Columbia, Murfreesboro, and elsewhere. In August 1855, the Nashville & Decatur Railroad—which evolved into the Tennessee & Alabama Railroad—opened a freight and passenger depot in Franklin. Williamson County was significantly impacted by the Civil War. After the fall of Nashville in early 1862, Franklin became a military post for the U.S. Army. In the late summer of 1864, Gen. John Bell Hood marched the Army of Tennessee through Georgia and Alabama into Tennessee. The resulting Battle of Franklin, fought on November 30, 1864, was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. In the aftermath of the fighting, dozens of Franklin buildings were converted into makeshift hospitals to treat the wounded. A Formative History 38 FRANKLIN, TN | PRESERVATION PLAN
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