Franklin County, Indiana

Franklin County Education, Geography, and History

Franklin County is a county located along the eastern border of the state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 23,087. Franklin County was created on November 27, 1810. The county seat is Brookville. The county is named for writer, orator, scholar, and founding father Benjamin Franklin.      

Franklin County is part of the Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Franklin County Name

The county is named for founding father, Benjamin Franklin, American Statesman, Scientist, Writer and more.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Franklin County History

Franklin County was the sixth county formed and was taken from Dearborn and Clark Counties in conformity with the legislative act of November 27, 1810. Franklin County was made effective February 1, 1811 and consists of 13 townships. The additional organization of Fayette and Union counties in 1819 and 1821 greatly reduced the area of Franklin County. It was named for Benjamin Franklin.

Some of the early settlers of this county were Primitive Baptists, they came with Elder William Tyner who came from Virginia in 1797. They organized the Little Cedar Grove Baptist Church, the first church in the Whitewater Valley. The members built a log church as early as 1805, about two or three miles southeast of Brookville, Indiana. In 1812 they built a large brick church, with balcony, and rifle ports. They held the first meeting in it on August 1, 1812. It is the oldest church building standing on its original site in Indiana. It is open as a historic site.

One further landmark in the county is the Big Cedar Baptist Church and Burying Ground on Big Cedar Creek Road, between the road to Reily and the Oxford Pike. The original church was established in 1817, as an arm of the Little Cedar Baptist church. The plain, simple brick building, but impressive in its simplicity was built in 1838. This church, like all, or nearly all of the pioneer Baptist groups in the county was originally Primitive Baptist or Hardshell. In the 1830’s or there abouts, modernism came upon the scene, modernism and human inventions, like Sunday Schools, Missionary Societies, and organs. Organs were particularly anathema to the Primitive Party; an organ was Arron’s golden calf. The Big Cedar congregation divided into two congregations, but the two groups arrived at an amicable settlement and both congregations continued to use the same building. The Primitives, or Hardshells, had church there on the first and third Sabbath of each month, and the Modernists or Missionary Baptists used the church on the second and fourth Sundays. Each congregation had its own wood shed. The building is now maintained in connection with the Big Cedar Cemetery Association.

Governors James B. Ray, Noah Noble and David Wallace were known as the "Brookville Triumvirate," in that they all had lived in Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana and served consecutive terms in the office of Governor of Indiana. Noble and former governor Ray were political enemies.

James B. Goudie Jr. Speaker of the Indiana House was from Franklin County

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 391 square miles (1,014 km²), of which 386 square miles (1,000 km²) is land and 5 square miles (14 km²) (1.36%) is water.

Franklin county is located in southeast Indiana.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Northeast: Union County
• East: Butler County, Ohio
• South: Dearborn County
• Southwest: Ripley County; Decatur County
• Northwest: Rush County; Fayette County

Education

Compare More Colleges and Universities

Find more schools to match to your needs.

Start Now