The Southwest Territory was admitted into the Union as the State of Tennessee Franklin was established as the county seat. All the land of present-day Tennessee became the Washington District of North Carolina, establishing Tennessee County. (Source: Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park) Transylvania Purchase Tennessee Williamson County SETTLEMENT (1795–1830) In the 1770s, hunters began exploring the area which, in 1775, became part of the Transylvania Purchase, an illegal purchase of land from the Cherokee Indians by speculators. From 1775–1776, all the land of presentday Tennessee became the Washington District of North Carolina, which established Tennessee County, encompassing present-day Franklin, in 1788. Two years later, North Carolina ceded rights to all its lands west of the Great Smoky Mountains, including Tennessee County, to the federal government as the Southwest Territory, which would become the State of Tennessee. In 1790, North Carolina also established the North Carolina Military Reservation along the Cumberland River Valley in present-day Middle Tennessee. Soon, scores of veterans of the Revolutionary War arrived to claim land grants inside the reservation as payment for their services in the military. Most land grants were 640 acres. Settlers also migrated from other states, primarily Virginia. This area became known as the Cumberland Settlements centered on river towns such as Nashville and Franklin. In 1796, the Southwest Territory was admitted into the Union as the State of Tennessee. White settlers began trickling into the area by the late 1790s, settling along rivers and creeks where they established farms operated by the labor of enslaved Black people. Many followed an ancient buffalo path—which evolved into Franklin Road—into the Harpeth River valley. Williamson County was carved from Davidson County in 1799, establishing the county seat as Franklin, named after Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The Town of Franklin was laid out near the Harpeth River on a 640-acre plot of land owned by Abram Maury. On April 5, 1800, Maury filed a plat map containing streets, building lots, and the town square with the County Courthouse. 1799 1770 1775 1796 42 FRANKLIN, TN | PRESERVATION PLAN
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