Franklin County, Indiana

Franklin County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Indiana. In the 2020 United States census, the county population was 22,785. The county seat is the town of Brookville. Franklin County is part of the Cincinnati, OH–KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. The only incorporated city in Franklin County is Batesville, which lies mostly in adjoining Ripley County.

Geography

Franklin County lies on the eastern edge of Indiana; its eastern border abuts the western border of Ohio. Its low rolling hills, once completely wooded, have been partially cleared and leveled for agricultural use. The carved drainages are still largely brush-filled.

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 98.31%) is land and (or 1.69%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Fayette County - north
Union County - northeast
Butler County, Ohio - east
Hamilton County, Ohio - southeast
Dearborn County - south
Ripley County - southwest
Decatur County - west
Rush County - northwest

Major highways

20px Interstate 74
20px U.S. Route 52
20px Indiana State Road 1
20px Indiana State Road 46
20px Indiana State Road 101
20px Indiana State Road 121
20px Indiana State Road 229
20px Indiana State Road 244
20px Indiana State Road 252

Protected areas

Mounds State Recreation Area

Some early settlers of Franklin County were Primitive Baptists who came with Elder William Tyner from Virginia in 1797, after the American Revolutionary War. They organized the first church congregation in the Whitewater Valley, the Little Cedar Grove Baptist Church. They raised a log chapel southeast of Brookville in 1805.

Another European-American landmark is the Big Cedar Baptist Church and Burying Ground on Big Cedar Creek Road, between the road to Reily and the Oxford Pike. The original church was established in 1817, as an arm of the Little Cedar Baptist church. The brick building was built in 1838. This church congregation, similar to many pioneer Baptist groups in the country, was originally Primitive Baptist or Hardshell. In the 1830s modernism reached the county, bringing innovations such as Sunday schools, Missionary Societies, and the playing of organs. Organs were particularly anathema to the Primitive Party, who considered it akin to Aaron's golden calf.

The Big Cedar congregation divided into two over these issues, but the two groups arrived at an amicable settlement. Both congregations continued to use the same building: the Primitives, or Hardshells, had worship in the church on the first and third Sabbath of each month, and the Modernists or Missionary Baptists used the church on the second and fourth Sundays. Each congregation had a wood shed. The building is now maintained in connection with the Big Cedar Cemetery Association.

Governors James B. Ray, Noah Noble and David Wallace were known as the "Brookville Triumvirate." They had each lived in Brookville and were elected to consecutive terms as Indiana governor. Noble and Ray were political adversaries.

James B. Goudie Jr. (1769–1836), Speaker of the Indiana House, was also from Franklin County.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in Brookville have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in September 1951. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in September to in May.

Board of Commissioners: The executive body of the county; commissioners are elected county-wide to staggered four-year terms. One commissioner serves as president. The commissioners execute acts legislated by the council, collect revenue, and manage county government. and Indiana House of Representatives districts 55, 67 and 68.

Politics

Franklin County is a Republican stronghold, and increasingly so in recent presidential elections. The 2012 election and every subsequent one broke the record for the strongest Republican support ever in county history. In 2024, it was the most Republican county in the state of Indiana.