Franklin County, Missouri: History and Information

Franklin County, Missouri

Franklin County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Union
Year Organized: 1818
Square Miles: 922

Court House:

300 East Main Street
County Courthouse
Union, MO 63084-1675

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Benjamin Franklin.

Demographics:

History of Franklin County

A large county, bounded on the north by the Missouri River, on the northeast by St. Louis County, on the southeast by Jefferson County, on the south by Washington and Crawford Counties, and on the west by Gasconade County. It was organized on December 11, 1818, and thus separated from St. Louis County, of which it had previously formed a part. The area of Franklin County at first included large regions on the west and south. These areas are now outside the county. On November 25, 1820, Gasconade County, which then included much of Osage County, was formed from Franklin County. By subsequent changes including the formation of Crawford County, Franklin County was reduced to its present area of 866 square miles. The earliest record of American settlement in the county is that of William Hughes, who located on Du Bois Creek, not far from the site of the present Washington, in 1794. This was the extreme frontier of the time. One of the first American settlers was Kincaid Caldwell, who came to Franklin County in 1803. The earliest entry of land in the county was made by Samuel Cantley on July 13, 1818. Franklin County was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), the Philadelphia printer, inventor, philosopher, diplomat, and statesman. Americans have always been delighted to honor him in their choice of place names; there are more than twenty Franklin Counties in other states, and over fifty other places named for him. (Davis & Durrie, 365; COUNTY ATLAS 1878, 8; HIST. FRANKLIN, 222; Switzler 543; MISSOURI SURVEY MAP; Kiel's BIOG. DIR., 8; Schultz, 44-45, 52-54; Eaton; McClure, 5; Miss Johnson)

Source: Harrison, Eugenia L. "Place Names Of Four River Counties In Eastern Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1943.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Berger

city

Incorporated Area

- Gerald

city

Incorporated Area

- Leslie

village

Incorporated Area

- Miramiguoa Park

village

Incorporated Area

- New Haven

city

Incorporated Area

- Pacific

city

Incorporated Area

- Parkway

village

Incorporated Area

- St. Clair

city

Incorporated Area

- Sullivan

city

Incorporated Area

- Union (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Washington

city

Incorporated Area

- Wildwood

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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Missouri Counties

Franklin County, Missouri

Franklin County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History of Franklin County

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

Online High Schools

County Resource Guide