Franklin Historic District

Franklin's historic district covers roughly 70 acres on the western bank of the Blackwater River in southeastern Virginia. It joins a downtown commercial core along Main Street and Second Avenue with a large residential neighborhood centered on High and Clay streets. The village began between 1835 and 1840 beside a railroad bridge and became a depot for regional farm products. After the Civil War, lumber and peanuts drove new growth. Most surviving buildings date from that late 19th-century revival. A fire in 1881 destroyed the original commercial center, and a town ordinance then required brick or stone construction, which explains the rows of Italianate and Colonial Revival brick storefronts. Houses range from vernacular frame dwellings to Queen Anne, Shingle, Bungalow and Foursquare examples, including The Elms. Railroad buildings and peanut warehouses stand near the south end of Main and Mechanic streets. Of 265 structures, 39 are noncontributing.