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Old Fire Station Museum, Mt Vernon, Texas

This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Attribution: Michael Barera.

Franklin County was created and established in 1875, four decades after the independence of Texas, from land ceded by neighboring Titus County. Although the origin of the county's name is not recorded, it is generally believed to have been named after Judge Benjamin C. Franklin, the first appointed justice in the Republic of Texas. The county seat is Mount Vernon. The first settlers arrived in 1836.

Bankhead Highway Visitor Center

The Bankhead Highway, which opened in 1919 and ran from Washington D.C. to San Diego, was the nation's first all-weather transcontinental highway. It passes through Franklin County and serves as Mount Vernon's Main Street and follows an early Indian trading route known as the Choctaw Trail. By 1930 it was renumbered as U. S. No. 1 and was called "The Broadway of America." The Bankhead Highway Route was changed in 1937 and follows present U. S. Hwy 67. The Visitor Center is one fourth mile west of U.S. Highway 37 on CR NW 1017. Just follow Main Street to the west past Highway 37. The Visitor Center includes the Lowry Pavilion, which is available to rent for special outdoor occasions, and the Dupree Park Nature Preserve and Nature Trail, a mile and a half walk through the property with special marked stations for bird sightings. Though the property gates are locked at off hours, a pedestrian gate allows admittance for individual use from dawn until dusk. A printed trail guide is available in the Visitor Center. [Wikipedia]

Resources

On-Site

Cemeteries Census Records Families History Local Information Lookups Photographs Queries Surrounding Counties

Off-Site

Franklin Archives Other TXGenWeb Counties Portal to Texas History Query Board

Publications

Mount Vernon Optic-Herald Newspaper [last edition, 15 Jul 2021]

This award was won by long-time coordinator, Angela Hartman. Thanks for all your hard work!
May 2022, TXGenWeb County of the Month

Recognizing Chris Skelly, the first CC for Franklin County.
1997-2017