On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
Farming was a way of life in days gone by; harvesting wheat with a steam-powered thresher; laborers at work under the hot sun in corn and tobacco fields; rows of tobacco speared on sticks and corn gathered into shocks. — — Map (db m83904) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
The road to prosperity is lined with signs announcing a boom in manufacturing. Franklin's half century of success in recruiting good-wage factory jobs has mom and dad punching the clock and more people eating out. — — Map (db m83900) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
Two frontier gentlemen fight a duel with pistols at dawn in a forest glade. In the background is a carriage on the Louisville to Nashville Pike at the Sandford Duncan Inn, a popular stagecoach stop of the day. — — Map (db m83909) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
Born near here were two famous men. Jim Bowie invented the Bowie knife. He died at the battle of the Alamo in Texas. Alexander Majors was co-founder of the Pony Express and hauled freight all over the West for the U.S. Cavalry. — — Map (db m83905) HM
On Steele Road, 1 mile south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
Surrounding the 1882 Courthouse and its clock tower are Franklin's devious first well; the fire that destroyed an earlier courthouse; the jail and jailer's quarters; portraits of Congressman I.H. Goodnight and his wife, Ella Hoy. — — Map (db m83903) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
Mule Day in Franklin was so popular before World War II that it attracted a movie star and a national radio broadcast. Franklin was once the second largest mule market in the U.S. This painting has 120 mules and 230 people. — — Map (db m83902) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
A higher standard of living means more leisure time. Local attractions include the drive-in, Kenny Perry's golf course, and horse racing at Kentucky Downs. Interstate 65 spurs commerce and travel. A tech school bolsters education. — — Map (db m83899) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles east of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
City and county schools consolidated in the 1940s and integrated in the 1960s. Actress Annie Potts was a cheerleader in the early 1970s. Dr. David Patterson was valedictorian a decade later. School teams have won many championships. — — Map (db m83901) HM
On North Main Street (U.S. 31W) at Finn Street, on the right when traveling north on North Main Street.
Marcellus Jerome Clarke enlisted in Confederate Army, 1861, at age 17. Attached to Morgan's Cavalry, 1863. Captured on March 12, 1865, taken to Louisville, hanged three days later, court-martialed as guerrilla "Sue Mundy." His last words: "I believe . . . — — Map (db m83303) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of Nashville Road (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling south.
Confederate guerillas raid an L&N freight train on an April morning in 1864. Nearby is Octagon Hall, an 8-sided brick home built by slaves. Both Rebel and Union troops camped on the grounds. The cupola was used by spies. — — Map (db m83908) HM
On Kenny Perry Drive, 0.8 miles south of Rapids Road, on the right when traveling south.
Cofounder of the Pony Express, he was born near this site on Oct. 4, 1814. Five years later, his family moved to Mo. Territory. In 1849, he formed a freighting business from
Mo. to Santa Fe. In 1854, became partners with Wm. Russell and Wm. . . . — — Map (db m159143) HM
Near North Main Street (U.S. 31W) at West Kentucky Avenue.
Born in Virginia, 1809. Came to Simpson County in 1827. Studied law under noted Kentucky lawyer George Robertson. Served in the Kentucky legislature, 1841-42; US Congress, 1847-49. Delegate to Kentucky Constitutional Convention, 1849. US Minister to . . . — — Map (db m83319) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of South Main Street (U.S. 31W), on the right when traveling north.
Birthplace of T.O. Chisholm
Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, born in log house, Lake Spring community, taught in local school at age 16. Became associate editor of Franklin Favorite; later edited Pentecostal Herald, Louisville. . . . — — Map (db m83296) HM
On Steele Road, 0.1 miles south of South Main Street (U.S. 31W), on the right when traveling north.
Born in Franklin, Ky., 30 June 1922. Graduated Male High School, Louisville. Joined army Air Corps, 16 June 1942. Graduated Flight School, 30 June 1943. During WWII, Mantell assigned to 440th Troop Carrier Group, 96th Troop Carrier Squadron, 9th Air . . . — — Map (db m143228) HM
On West Cedar Street (State Highway 100) at North Main Street (U.S. 31W), on the right when traveling west on West Cedar Street.
Carrie Conn Moore, the first woman to serve in the Kentucky Senate, was born in Logan Co. on January 7, 1904. She moved to Franklin when she married J. Lee Moore. After her husband's death, she won a special election in Nov. 1949 to fill the . . . — — Map (db m159146) HM
On North College Street north of West Cedar Street (Kentucky Highway 100), on the right when traveling north.
Cash-Carter Wedding
Country music icons Johnny Cash and June Carter were married here on March 1, 1968, one week after Cash proposed on stage in Ontario, Canada. The couple came to Franklin because in Kentucky they could purchase a license . . . — — Map (db m159153) HM
On West Cedar Street (Kentucky Route 100) at Main Street (U.S. 31W), on the right when traveling west on West Cedar Street.
County Named, 1819
For Capt. John Simpson, one of the nine officers killed at Battle of River Raisin, Jan. 22, 1813, for whom Ky. counties named. Fought under "Mad Anthony" Wayne, Battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794. Settled in Shelby Co., . . . — — Map (db m83318) HM
On South Main Street, 0.1 miles south of East Madison Street, on the left when traveling south.
Goodnight Memorial Library
Mrs. Goodnight (1858-1935), wife of I.H. Goodnight, in her will made possible the erection of this municipal building containing library, auditorium, assembly room, museum, kitchen. With aid of federal funds, . . . — — Map (db m83301) HM
On Turnertown Road (State Road 1170) at Mennonite Church Road, on the right when traveling west on Turnertown Road.
Jams Bowie Birth Site
The adventurer-soldier of knife fame, Colonel James Bowie, who died 1836 at the Alamo in Texas, was born near this site in Logan, now Simpson Co,, 1796. Family moved here, 1794, where his father Reason established mill, . . . — — Map (db m165585) HM
On Walker Street west of John J. Johnson Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
The original Lincoln School was formally dedicated on Sunday, September 8, 1940. The two-story building was a hallmark for the Black Community and marked a new beginning for education. The life of the school was interwoven with the fabric of the . . . — — Map (db m159167) HM
On Walker Street west of John J. Johnson Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
A hallmark of the black community, it was dedicated on September 8, 1940 and G.R. Houston served as its first principal. In 1944, county schools merged with Lincoln, which brought about crowded conditions. School added onto several times from . . . — — Map (db m159162) HM
On Bowling Green Road (U.S. 31W) 0.1 miles north of Carr Road, on the right when traveling north.
An antebellum landmark built by Andrew Jackson Caldwell, an ardent advocate of the southern cause. Many Confederate soldiers found shelter here. Bricks were made, wood cut and finished, stone was quarried on the place. The house, erected by Caldwell . . . — — Map (db m159172) HM
Near Interstate 65 at milepost 0,, 9.1 miles north of Kentucky Route 52.
"But the child's sob in the silence curses deeper
than the strong man in his wrath"
–Elizabeth Barrett Browning
The Cry of the Children
-----------------------------
Dedicated to the victims of the
April 19, 1995 Oklahoma City . . . — — Map (db m83291) HM
On North College Street at West Washington Street, on the right when traveling north on North College Street.
(side 1)
Old Stone Jail
This building, which was Simpson County's fourth jail (the first being built in 1819), was constructed in 1879 and was used for civilian prisoners until 1986. The unique style of the Old Jail is based on a . . . — — Map (db m159154) HM
Near Interstate 65 at milepost 0,, 9.1 miles north of Kentucky Route 52.
Replica of Stone #38 set nearly 30 miles east of here during the 1859 Cox/Peoples survey of the KY/TN line. This survey resulted in markers set at 5-mile intervals along the line originally determined by Walker and Smith in 1780. Surveyors from both . . . — — Map (db m83290) HM
On Nashville Road (U.S. 31W) 0.5 miles south of Geddes Road, on the right when traveling south.
Sandford Duncan Inn Built about 1819, as stage coach inn, by Sandford Duncan, a large land owner and leader in forming Simpson County. Most of original structure remains. Linkumpinch, a famous dueling ground on Duncan's land, one mile south. . . . — — Map (db m170647) HM
On West Kentucky Avenue west of North Main Street (U.S. 31W), on the left when traveling west.
(Union side)
Dedicated to the memory of the
52nd Kentucky Infantry Regiment
and the assorted Simpson County
soldiers of the Union army
(Confederate side)
Dedicated to the memory of the
6th Kentucky Infantry Regiment . . . — — Map (db m164861) WM
Near North Main Street (U.S. 31W) just north of Courthouse Square, on the right when traveling south.
In God we trust
This monument honors the men and women of Franklin-Simpson County serving in the military during the period of Desert Shield Desert Storm 8-2 90 - 2-27-91.
In their name we dedicate this monument to the memory of those who . . . — — Map (db m159152) WM
Near West Cedar Street (State Highway 100) at North Main Street (U.S. 31W), on the right when traveling west.
Dedicated in perpetual
memory to the men of Simpson
County who gave their lives
in the following wars
World War I
Claud Boling Tresley Bracken Fred Cuff Earnest Dean Joe Nixon Jesse G. Elliott Paul K. Eskew Ernest E. . . . — — Map (db m159148) WM
On Nashville Road (U.S. 31W) at Tennessee Route 259, on the right when traveling north on Nashville Road.
The Simpson County jog in Kentucky-Tennessee boundary was error of Dr. Thomas Walker's 1780 survey party. Luke Munsell and James Bright resurveyed region fifty years later, but the controversy continued until survey by Austin P. Cox and Benjamin . . . — — Map (db m83298) HM
On Middleton Road (State Road 103) east of George Taylor Road (State Road 665), on the left when traveling east.
U.S. Congressman and Senator for a quarter century; born here, 1895. Acclaimed as champion of Kentucky farmers; promoter of legislation to aid tobacco growers. Sponsored revision of food, drug, cosmetic laws. Attended Franklin schools and Univ. of . . . — — Map (db m165620) HM
