Franklin, named after Benjamin Franklin, was declared an incorporated city in 1799.  Native Americans had lived and thrived there before settlers came and the settlers also thrived taking advantage of the good farm land.  The county seat of Williamson, named after a signer of the constitution Hugh Williamson, it soon became a prosperous town and its architecture and historic mansions/farms in the area reflect that.  The Civil War seems to have put a stop to that.  The city slowly declined, leaving  a lot of empty buildings and few industries until the 80’s.  As Nashville grew, its suburbs pushed further south and Franklin was a perfect spot.  With an intact, if somewhat abandoned downtown, old growth trees, a lovely roundabout to control traffic and plenty of space to park, it transformed itself.  Businesses moved back to the area and now, voila, a perfectly lovely downtown area chock full of choices.  For history buffs there are mansions and civil war sites outside of town and restaurants in town to relax after a hard day attempting to understand incomprehensible battles.  (I always find I have to get down in the weeds so deep to understand what went on in any area that I lose interest and find myself taking pictures at the the ubiquitous cannons scattered throughout.)   The 12 blocks or so of downtown are just packed with all kinds of great stores ranging from home goods to boutique wear.  The choices when you are hungry are substantial: Bar, Coffee Shop, high and low end Restaurants, even a breakfast place, the one chain restaurant I saw called Ruby Slipper.  We found it to be just a delightful way to spend an afternoon.  While staying in Nashville we drove down several times and enjoyed ourselves each time.  Go and have a good time!

Anecdotal Stories and Observations

We chatted with a shop owner one lovely day while we were busy trying on new tops for the summer. She told us that people from California were coming to Franklin in droves, whole extended families of them, buying up property and settling in. That certainly was at least one reason for the extraordinary amount of home building going on, much of it within walking distance of the downtown, and at some fairly steep prices. It was an interesting observation. We wondered how “the locals” felt about it.