Franklin

Formed December 7, 1807 (31^st county)

Franklin County (42,769), Winchester (9,374)

The masonry and concrete Art Deco and Modern building was erected in 1936 to replace a classier 1890 courthouse.  The facility is located on a square at Jefferson Street, Northwest 1^st Avenue, College Street, and Southeast 1^st Avenue.  United States Highway 41 is College Street in this part of town.  Joseph Holman and Thomas Marr are the architects.  The building has a clock tower and veterans’ memorials.  A Judicial Center was added in 2009.  Franklin County was formed on December 7, 1807 from Rutherford County as the 31^st county with Winchester as the only county seat.  The county is named for American statesman Benjamin Franklin.  He is also the namesake for the county seat of Williamson County.  The county seat was named for American Revolutionary War hero James Winchester.  Franklin County was the birthplace of 1 Tennessee Governor, Isham G. Harris. 

Franklin County government consists of a sheriff, a County Mayor, and 16 Commissioners.  Three Circuit Court Judges, One Chancery Court Judge, and One General Court Judge serve Franklin, Bledsoe, Grundy, Marion, Rhea, and Sequatchie counties.  The county is on the southern border with Alabama.  Chattanooga, Tennessee is east and Nashville, Tennessee is northwest of the county.  The county center is 4.3 miles East of Winchester nearer Decherd.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Coffee, Grundy, and Marion counties and Alabama and Lincoln and Moore counties. 

The area of the county is 553 square miles.  It is 25 out of 95 in the state.  It ranks 36 out of 95 in population in the state.  It has a density of 77.3 persons per square mile making it 45 out of 95 in the state.  Franklin County has 42.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 41 Alternate enters the county from the northwest, Coffee County, and exits to the northeast, Grundy County.  United States Highway 64 crosses east to west from Grundy County to Lincoln County.  The county resembles a tall pile of leaves.  Winchester is located near the center of the county.  Winchester is the county seat and the largest city.  It’s 21.9% of the county population.  This county is in the Tullahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Tullahoma