Franklin County

Franklin County, Texas

Franklin County, Texas

Franklin County Library in Mount Vernon, the seat of Franklin County, Texas. Photograph by Michael Barera.
Franklin County, Texas

Franklin County, Texas

Map of Franklin County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Franklin County is located in northeast Texas, one county removed from Oklahoma and three counties removed from Arkansas. Mount Vernon, the county seat, is on Interstate Highway 30 seventy-two miles southwest of Texarkana and ninety-six miles northeast of Dallas. With a 2014 population of 2,633, Mount Vernon is the largest town situated entirely within the boundaries of the county, but Winnsboro, located in southwestern Franklin and northwestern Wood counties, had a 2014 population of 3,458. The county's center lies at 33°09' north latitude and 95°14' west longitude. The county comprises 294 square miles of the post oak belt and is heavily wooded; post oak, blackjack oak, and pine trees predominate. The terrain varies from nearly level to rolling, and the soils are predominantly loam with clay subsoils. The county is drained by the Sulphur River, which forms its northern boundary, and Big Cypress Creek, which runs through the southern portion. Mineral resources include oil, gas, limestone, and lignite coal. Wildlife native to the area once included buffalo, bear, deer, beaver, and turkey. Temperatures range from an average high of 94° F in July to an average low of 35° in January. Rainfall averages almost forty-five inches a year, and the growing season averages 234 days annually.

Archeological evidence to the north in Red River County indicates that the area was occupied by Indians as early as the Late Archaic Period, around 1500 B.C. At the time of first European contact, the area was occupied by the Caddo Indians, an agricultural people with a highly developed culture. During the last decade of the eighteenth century, due to epidemics that decimated the tribe and problems with the Osages, most of the Caddos abandoned the villages they had occupied for centuries. During the early 1820s bands of Shawnee, Delaware, and Kickapoo Indians immigrated to the area. These Indians stayed for only a brief period, then generally abandoned their settlements in the mid-1830s. The time of earliest European exploration of the area has not been conclusively determined. The Moscoso expedition of 1542 may have passed through or very near what is now Franklin County. It could be, however, that the first European contact with the area did not occur until after 1719, when the French founded Le Poste des Cadodaquious in what is now Bowie County. Although the French occupied the post for more than fifty years, little is known about their activities. It seems probable, however, that they did explore as far to the southwest as Franklin County. White settlement began in the late 1830s along the eastern edge of what became Franklin County; most of the early settlers came from the upper southern states, predominantly Tennessee. The Cherokee Trace passed through the area, and by the late 1840s the central part of the county was also settled. By 1870 Mount Vernon had a population of 223. The county was marked off by the legislature in March 1875 and named for Judge Benjamin C. Franklin, an early Red River County settler. An election was held on April 30, 1875, to select the county seat. Mount Vernon won by a large majority, and the matter was never again contested.

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Cecil Harper, Jr. | © TSHA

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Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Franklin County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

300 ft – 600 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 284.4 mi²
  • Total Area: 294.8 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 31.9°F
July mean maximum: 92.0°F

Rainfall, 2019

47.4 inches

Population Count, 2019

10,725

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

4,419

Unemployment, 2019

6.4%

Property Values, 2019

$1,584,101,800 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$39,730 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$111,402,507 USD

Wages, 2019

$34,316,713 USD

Franklin County

Highlighted:
  • Franklin County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 20 (2009) Yes
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Town 40 (2009) Yes
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Town 50 (2009) Yes
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Town 21 (2009) Yes
Town 13 (2009) Yes
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Town 2,477 (2021) Yes
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Town 100 (2009) Yes
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Town 150 (2009) Yes
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Town 3,527 (2021) Yes
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