Franklin, Tennessee

by John McNamara

Evidently, Franklin, Tennessee is taking on more popularity than it did in its earliest days. Franklin, Tennessee, the tenth largest city in Tennessee, is evolving with industry and economy and real estate, as well as with efforts to preserve historical value on famous sites in the city.

The month was November; the day was the thirtieth; and the year was 1864. It was four in the afternoon. The Civil War was in full boom, and what was to be the finishing stroke to the Independence of the Southern Confederacy occurred at Franklin, Tennessee--according to 1st Tennessee Infantryman, Sam Watkins. Also according to Watkins and others, it was “the bloodiest battle of modern times…in any war.” The battle, lasting only five hours, was also fought on one of the smallest plots of land, a section that was no more than two miles long and a mile and a half wide.

That land now holds some of the oldest of structures, historically relevant and in commemoration: in the city of Franklin, Tennessee, for example, rests the former war hospital used during the battle of Franklin, Carnton Plantation, complete with cemetery. Also there is Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage, and such infamous sites as the Belmont Mansion, occupied in summers at the time of the war by one Adelicia Acklen, the ballsy belle who during the war had the smarts and the bravada to negotiate with Union and Confederate ranks, so she could get her cotton bales shipped on schedule (this feat—getting 2,800 bales successfully through, yielded Acklen $960,000).

Other real estate is nearly as sought after or revered. In the Franklin and surrounding cities, towns, and counties, homes are available from under 150,000 to over a half a million dollars. And the homes are sprawling, spacious, manicured and maintained—be they older homes…such as the established Rebel Meadows mansion with the contemporary amenities and fixtures, or custom-built homes…such as the 4-bedroom Colonial with the coveted two fireplace and four-closet features or the condo-living styled home in Prescott Place at Fieldstone Farms with the three bedrooms and contemporary loft and huge back yard.

With a population of fewer than 50,000 in 2004, with such important crime statistics as zero murders in 2003, 2002, and 2001, and with healthy employment opportunities in industries from education to manufacturing to finance to science to real estate, Franklin, Tennessee (and its proponents) offers an ideal place to live.

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