Franklin

Formed December 15, 1851 (70^th county)

Franklin County (10,016), Hampton (4,339)

The red brick and stone facility was erected in 1890 on a square at 1^st Avenue, Federal Street, Central Avenue, and 1^st Street.  Iowa State Highway 3 is Central Avenue.  T. D. Allen is the courthouse architect.  The grounds feature memorial walls and benches while the inside features a chandelier.  Hampton, the only county seat, was also the site of the 1866 courthouse.  Franklin County was formed on December 15, 1851 and named for American statesman Benjamin Franklin.  The county was taken from Chickasaw County as the 70^th county.  The county seat is named for Hampton Roads, Virginia. 

Franklin County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Supervisors.  Thirty-one District Court Judges and Thirty-three Magistrates serve Franklin, Boone, Bremer, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Humboldt, Marshall, Mitchell, Pocahontas, Sac, Story, Webster, Winnebago, Worth, and Wright counties.  The county is in northern Iowa.  Waterloo, Iowa is southeast and Des Moines, Iowa is south of the county.  The county center is 2.2 miles West of Hampton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Butler, Grundy, Hardin, Hamilton, Wright and Hancock counties. 

The county has an area of 582 square miles.  It is 28 of 99 in the state.  It ranks 74 out of 99 in population in the state.  It has a density of 17.2 persons per square mile making it 82 out of 99 in the state.  Franklin County has 66.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 goes north to southwest through the county from Cerro Gordo County to Wright County.  United States Highway 65 parallels Interstate Highway 35 from Cerro Gordo County to Hardin County.  The county is square.  Hampton is east of center in the county.  Hampton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 43.3% of the county population.

Dows