Formed May 10, 1795 (19th county)
Franklin County (51,539), Frankfort (28,609)
The classic 1835 Greek Revival courthouse is located on St. Clair Street between Main and Wapping streets. United States Highway 60 is five blocks to the east of the site. Gideon Shryock was the courthouse architect of this concrete building. The structure was renovated in 1927, 1945 and recently. It features columns but the new renovations add glass and steel. The county was formed on May 10, 1795 from Woodford, Mercer, and Shelby counties as the 19th county with Frankfort as the only county seat. There was an 1806 courthouse earlier. The county is named for American Statesman Benjamin Franklin. The county seat of Simpson County is also named for him. The county seat is named for settler Stephen Frank and the ford of the Kentucky River. The Kentucky state capitol is located in this county.
Franklin County government consists of a County Judge Executive, a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive). It has 6 Magistrates (legislative.) Two Circuit Court Judges, Three District Court Judges, One Family Court Judge and a court clerk serve Franklin County (judicial.) The county is in the central part of the state. Lexington, Kentucky is east and Louisville, Kentucky is west of the county. The county center is 5.8 miles North-Northwest of Frankfort. The county is surrounded clockwise by Owen, Scott, Woodford, Anderson, Shelby, and Henry counties.
The area of the county is 210 square miles. It is 96 out of 120 in the state. It ranks 19 out of 120 in population in the state. It has a density of 245.4 persons per square mile making it 12 out of 120 in the state. Franklin County has 55.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 64 crosses the county east to west from Woodford County to Shelby County. United States Highway 60 parallels Interstate Highway 64 from Woodford to Shelby counties. United States Highway 127 goes north to south from Owen County to Anderson County. United States Highway 421 enters from the northwest, Henry County, and exits east, Woodford County. United States Highway 460 comes from Scott County, east, and terminates. The county is a hexagon with Frankfort located in the southern third. Frankfort is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 55.5% of the county population. This county is in the Frankfort Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Frankfort
