{"nrhp_refnum":"74000667","name":"Franklin House","other_names":["Old Athens Hotel","Athens Hardware Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"464-480 E. Broad St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Athens","county":"Clarke County","state":"GA","lat":33.957848041000034,"lon":-83.37635779099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-12-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Franklin House (also called the Old Athens Hotel) is a three-story brick commercial and hotel building at 464-480 East Broad Street, Athens, Georgia, built in three stages from about 1845-47 to about 1860 for Maj. William L. Mitchell.","why_significant":"It illustrates the social and commercial history of Athens from 1845 to 1972, serving as a prominent hotel and gathering place in the ante-bellum period. Architecturally it shows Federal and Greek Revival influences and an 1870 cast-iron storefront adapting the building to commercial use. It also remains a landmark reflecting the scale and mass of 19th century commercial buildings.","narrative":"Franklin House is a three-story brick building on the corner of Broad and Thomas Streets in Athens, Georgia. Maj. William L. Mitchell, a University of Georgia trustee, bought the site at auction in 1843 and built it about 1845-47 with shops on the ground floor and hotel rooms above. The structure grew in three stages and includes a large second-floor ballroom. Its design combines Federal and Greek Revival details, including a fine central doorway with anthemion pilasters, while a cast-iron storefront was added around 1870. As a leading hotel in a university town, it hosted figures such as Howell Cobb and Alexander H. Stephens, served as a Whig political headquarters, and housed civic groups like the Masonic lodge. From 1865 the Childs-Nickerson Company, later Athens Hardware Company, occupied it for over a century until 1972. The building was empty when nominated and remains a local landmark.","period_of_significance":"19th century; specific date 1845-7 (history discussed 1845-1972)","architect_builder":"Maj. William L. Mitchell (original builder)","architectural_style":"Federal and Greek Revival, with a cast-iron front c. 1870","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as empty, with the last occupant (Athens Hardware Company) having moved out in 1972; condition marked deteriorated and altered.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.514544-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/74000667.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000667/ffa280e124-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000667/ffa280e124-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"056199pu.jpg: L. D. Andrew derivative work: pro2","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_House_(Athens,_Georgia)_1936_Historic_American_Buildings_Survey.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">056199pu.jpg: L. D. Andrew derivative work: pro2</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_House_(Athens,_Georgia)_1936_Historic_American_Buildings_Survey.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"06000737","name":"Downtown Athens Historic District (Additional Documentation, Boundary Increase II and Boundary Decrease)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/downtown-athens-historic-district-additional-documentation-boundary-increase-ii-06000737/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207462","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_House_(Athens,_Georgia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1445253"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/clarke-county/franklin-house-74000667/"}