Franklin is a city in and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About 21 miles (34 km) south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454. It is the seventh-most populous city in Tennessee.
The city developed on both sides of the Harpeth River, a tributary of the Cumberland River. In the 19th century, Franklin (as the county seat) was the trading and judicial center for primarily rural Williamson County and remained so well into the 20th century as the county remained rural and agricultural in nature.
Since 1980, areas of northern Franklin have been developed for residential and related businesses, in addition to modern service industries. The population has increased rapidly as growth moved in all directions from the core. Despite recent growth and development, Franklin is noted for its many older buildings and neighborhoods, which are protected by city ordinances.
History
The area was home to seven Native American tribes.
18th century
The City of Franklin was founded October 26, 1799, by Abram Maury Jr. (1766–1825). Later a state senator, he is buried with his family in the current Founders Pointe neighborhood. Maury named the town after national founding father Benjamin Franklin.
Ewen Cameron built a log house in 1798, the first in the new settlement. Cameron was born February 23, 1768, in Bogallan, Ferintosh, Scotland. He emigrated to Virginia in 1785 and came to Tennessee shortly after it was admitted to the Union. Cameron died on February 28, 1846, after living 48 years in the same house. He and his second wife, Mary, were buried in the old City Cemetery.
19th century
This area is part of Middle Tennessee, and farmers prospered in the pre-Civil War years, with the cultivation of tobacco and hemp as commodity crops, and raising of livestock.
During the Civil War, Tennessee was occupied by Union troops from 1862. Franklin was the site of a major battle in the Franklin–Nashville Campaign. The Second Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, resulting in almost 10,000 casualties (killed, wounded, captured, and missing). Forty-four buildings were temporarily converted to use as field hospitals. The Carter, Carnton, and the Lotz houses from this era are still standing and are among the city's numerous examples of period architecture.
After the Civil War, slavery was abolished and the franchise was extended to African-American men. Most joined the Republican Party, which had gained their freedom.
On July 6, 1867, a political rally of Union League African American Republicans in Franklin was disrupted by Conservatives, who were mostly White but included some Blacks. Later that evening, what became known as the "Franklin Riot" broke out. Black Union League men were ambushed by Whites at the town square and returned fire. An estimated 25 to 39 men were wounded, most of them Black. One White man was killed outright, and at least three Black people died of wounds soon after the confrontation.
On August 15, 1868, in Franklin, Samuel Bierfield became the first Jewish man to be lynched in the United States. He was fatally shot by a large group of masked men believed to be Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members. They attacked him for treating Blacks equally to Whites in his store. Lawerence Bowman, a Black man who worked for Bierfield and was with him at his store, was fatally wounded in the attack and soon died.
After the Reconstruction era, white violence continued against African Americans, as the minority struggled to retain dominance. Violence increased toward the turn of the century, and whites used intimidation and attacks to keep Blacks away from voting.
Five African Americans were lynched in Williamson County from 1877 to 1950, most during the decades around the turn of the century. It was a time of high social tensions and legal racial oppression in the South. These murders took place in Franklin, when men were taken from the courthouse or county jail by mobs before trial.
Among them was Amos Miller, a 23-year-old Black man who was forcibly taken from the courtroom by a White mob during his 1888 trial in a sexual assault case. He was hanged from the railings of the balcony of the county courthouse. The alleged victim was a 50-year-old woman. On April 30, 1891, Jim Taylor, another African-American man, was lynched on Murfreesboro Road in Franklin by another mob, accused of killing a White man.
A memorial to Confederate soldiers was erected in 1899 by fourteen women of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to honor Confederate soldiers, including the 6,125 casualties of the Battle of Franklin. A news report described how as the last piece of the statue was being raised, a buggy ran into a rope, causing the statue to swing into the shaft, breaking out a piece from the hat of the figure. This event resulted in many nicknaming the monument as "Chip".
20th century to present
Population growth slowed noticeably from 1910 to 1940 (see table in Demographics section), as many African Americans left the area in the Great Migration to northern industrial cities for jobs and to escape Jim Crow conditions.
Since the late 20th century, however, Franklin has rapidly developed as a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. Franklin's population has increased more than fivefold since 1980, when its population was 12,407. In 2010, the city had a population of 62,487. As of 2017 Census estimates, it is the state's seventh-largest city. In 2017, the City of Franklin was ranked the 8th fastest-growing city in the nation by the U.S. Census Bureau, increasing 4.9 percent between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017.
Historic preservation and memorials
One of the first major manufacturers to establish operations in the county was the Dortch Stove Works, which opened a factory in Franklin in 1928. The factory was later developed as a Magic Chef factory, producing electric and gas ranges; Magic Chef was prominent in the Midwest from 1929. When the factory was closed due to extensive restructuring in the industry, the building fell into disuse. The factory complex was restored in the late 1990s adapted for offices, restaurants, retail and event spaces. It is considered a "model historic preservation adaptive reuse project".
After the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, some Franklin residents have worked to identify and preserve its most significant historic assets. Five historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as are many individual non-historic but older structures.
Historic preservation and church leaders developed the "Fuller Story", a project to recognize the lives and contributions of African Americans to Franklin. In October 2021 a statue of a soldier of the United States Colored Troops was installed in front of the old Williamson County Courthouse on Franklin Square. It marks the contributions of thousands of African Americans in ending the Civil War and reuniting the Union. The square was the site of a former slave market and it holds the Confederate monument.
The "Fuller Story" project was approved by the Franklin Board Of Mayor and Aldermen. Before the statue was erected, in 2018, the first of several planned historic plaques was installed; these mark the history of slavery, the Reconstruction era and Jim Crow, and civil rights in Franklin.
Franklin is home to an armed forces memorial, on the grounds of the Williamson County Archives. It honors Williamson County men who served in American wars from the Creek War to the Gulf War. Around the seal of Franklin are placed engraved bricks that radiate in a circle. The largest brick is in honor of George Jordan, an African-American man and former slave. As a Buffalo Soldier, he fought in the Indian Wars in New Mexico. He is the only man from Williamson County to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 41.4 square miles (107.3 km2), of which 41.2 square miles (106.8 km2) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km2), or 0.52%, is covered by water.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there was a population of 83,454, with 32,749 households and 23,675 families residing in the city. The median age was 38.4 years, 24.5% of residents were under the age of 18, and 14.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older; for every 100 females there were 91.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.0 males age 18 and over.
99.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 32,749 households in Franklin, of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 56.2% were married-couple households, 14.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 34,720 housing units, of which 5.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.3%.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, 62,487 people, 16,128 households, and 11,225 families resided in the city. The population density was 1,393.3 inhabitants per square mile (538.0/km2). The 17,296 housing units averaged 575.9 per square mile (222.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 84.53% White, 10.35% African American, 4.84% Latino, 1.61% Asian, 0.24% Native American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.17% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races.
Of the 16,128 households, 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were not families; 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.09.
In the city, the population was distributed as 27.9% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 38.1% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $75,871, and for a family was $91,931. Males had a median income of $66,622 versus $43,193 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $36,445. About 5.0% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over. Less than 5.0% of the eligible workforce was unemployed.
Economy
Franklin is home to health-care-related businesses such as Community Health Systems, Acadia Healthcare, Iasis Healthcare, Tivity Health, Home Instead Senior Care, MedSolutions Inc, and Renal Advantage Inc.
Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors, Clarcor, CKE Restaurants, Jackson National Life, Triangle Tyre Company, Provident Music Group, World Christian Broadcasting, Mars Petcare, Franklin American Mortgage, Kaiser Aluminum, Lee Company, Ramsey Solutions, Video Gaming Technologies, and Atmos Energy also have corporate or regional headquarters in Franklin.
In-N-Out Burger will open a hub and distribution center in Franklin by 2026; a privately-held company with its roots in the west, it will be their easternmost expansion. The company's hub will involve a $125.5 million investment.
Top employers
According to the city's 2024 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city were:
Government
The city is run by a mayor, elected at-large in the city, and a board of eight aldermen. Four of the latter are elected from single-member districts of roughly equal population, and four are elected at-large. All electoral offices are for four-year terms, with the ward alderman elected in one cycle, and the mayor and at-large aldermen elected two years later. The city's policies and procedures are decided by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Resolutions, municipal ordinances, and the municipal code are carried out by the city's various departments. These are: Administration, Building and Neighborhood Services, Engineering, Finance, Fire, Human Resources, Information Technology, Law, Planning and Sustainability, Parks, Police, Sanitation and Environmental Services, Streets, and Water Management. These 14 departments are overseen by the City Administrator, a professional manager hired by the Board of Aldermen.