This pleasant location resulted from Acts of Legislature which placed courthouses nearer the people whose needs they served, thus facilitating recording of deeds or wills and actions of the court.   It was in 1819 that Simpson was carved out of existing Warren, Logan and Allen counties; as a result, the county seats of Bowling Green, Russellville and Scottsville became equidistant from Franklin.  The county name remembers with honor Captain John Simpson for his service in the war of 1812.

     Franklin's location can be noted humorously and practically.  One proposed site was contiguous to Drakes Creek; another was land belonging to William Hudspeth.   Water supply was vitally  important to either location.  Tradition reports the night before Commissioners were to make a choice, Hudspeth worked rapidly to carry barrels of water from the creek to prime the well which he had dug without striking water (site now marked by a replica well structure).  Evidently, the water seeping to an underground stream allowed the almost deep-enough hole to open into the water supply.  What luck!  Hudspeth won the Commissioners' vote.

     Favorable location has also been enhanced by the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike (31-W), in part following the ancient Cumberland Trace.  Since Franklin's Main Street is 31-W, much commerce has been the result, even when it was a stagecoach route.  Now, I-65 affords two exits to Franklin.  Another road--the railroad--was completed in 1859; it too brought much traffic and created need for hotels to accommodate travelers.

     Today, the county and town boast about their location: proximity to larger cities; a good climate for industry; excellent farmland; pleasant tree shaded streets; subdivisions-- all of which give pleasantness to life and work.  As a visitor to Franklin and Simpson County, we hope you take the time to enjoy good Southern hospitality.