Franklin

Formed August 25, 1855 (10^th county)

Franklin County (25,994), Ottawa (12,627)

The ornate stone and red brick structure is located on the square at Main, 3^rd, Hickory, and 4^th streets.  Main Street is United States Highway 59 Business in Ottawa.  George P. Washburn is the Romanesque building designer.  This facility was built in 1893.  The courthouse features corner towers, a working clock tower, and a bell tower.  The interior has wooden stairs and the exterior has a memorial wall.  A supporting annex is near the courthouse with the District Court.  The county was established on August 25, 1855 as a Kansas original county (10^th county.)  St. Bernard (1855), Minneola (1858), and Ottawa (1864) have all served as the county seat.  The county’s namesake is American Statesman Benjamin Franklin.  The county seat is named for the Native American tribe.  It is also the source name for Ottawa County. 

Franklin County government consists of a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Four District Court Judges serve Franklin, Anderson, Coffey, and Osage counties (judicial.) The county is in eastern Kansas to the southwest of Kansas City, Kansas.  Topeka, Kansas is northwest of the county.  The county center is 2.6 miles Southwest of Ottawa.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Douglas, Johnson, Miami, Linn, Anderson, Coffey, and Osage counties. 

The area of the county is 574 square miles.  It is 90 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 22 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 45.3 persons per square mile making it 16 out of 105 in the state.  Franklin County has 65.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 crosses the county northeast to southwest from Miami County to Osage County.  United States Highway 59 goes north to south from Douglas County to Anderson County.  United States Highway 169 clips the southeast corner from Miami County, east, to Anderson County, south.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Ottawa is located in the northern third of the county.  Ottawa is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 48.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area.