Franklin County, Nebraska

Franklin County, Nebraska

County seat: Franklin · Created: 1867; organized March 3, 1871 · Named for: Benjamin Franklin · License plates: prefix 50 · Population: 2,889 (2020 census); peak 10,303 in 1910 · Area: 576 sq mi

About Franklin County

Franklin County lies on the Kansas line in south-central Nebraska, with the Republican River crossing its southern part and Thompson, Lovely, Center and Turkey creeks running down to it from the uplands; the north of the county holds Rainwater Basin wetlands. The Legislature created it in 1867 and named it for Benjamin Franklin. Three colonies from Omaha came in 1870–71: the Knight colony, whose first party under C. J. Van Laningham reached Franklin City on Center Creek on November 26, 1870; the Thompson colony at Riverton; and a short-lived colony of young Black settlers who named Lovely Creek and laid out a town called Grant in the spring of 1871. Gov. David Butler called the organizing election for March 3, 1871.

The county seat was fought over for half a century. The county named Waterloo its seat in 1871, but a rival town laid out a mile east of Franklin City took the records into George O'Bannon's store; after an 1872 election, Bloomington men carried the records off at night and lost some of them crossing swollen Center Creek, and a judge upheld Bloomington. With the U.S. Land Office newly moved to Bloomington, it won the October 1874 vote over Macon, Riverton and Franklin and kept the seat until November 2, 1920, when voters moved it to Franklin, where the courthouse was finished in 1926.

The Burlington built up the Republican valley in 1878–79, reaching Bloomington on March 10, 1879, and laid out the present Franklin that fall; its DeWitt–Holdrege branch founded Hildreth, Upland and Campbell across the north in 1886, near Volga German settlers who had come in 1876. Naponee grew on Turkey Creek below the site of Harlan County Dam. Franklin Academy (1881–1922) educated about 2,500 students, among them Frank W. Cyr, the father of the yellow school bus, born near Franklin in 1900; spitball pitcher Clarence Mitchell was born near Naponee in 1891, and actor David Janssen at Naponee in 1931.

Towns of Franklin County

Travel Corridors

US 136 — the Heritage Highway, east–west along the north side of the Republican valley past Naponee and Bloomington, through Franklin and Riverton. US 136 Corridor →

NE 4 — east–west across the north through Campbell, south of Hildreth and Upland. NE 4 Corridor →

State highways — NE 10 from the Kansas line through Franklin north to Minden and I-80; NE 44, which begins at NE 4 west of Hildreth and runs north to Wilcox (NE 44 Corridor →); and the S-31A, S-31B and S-31C spurs to Upland, Hildreth and Naponee.

Cameras: View Franklin County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

In Franklin, the 1926 courthouse, City Park on the old Franklin Academy campus with the academy marker and the veterans memorial, the Franklin County Museum and the Rose Bowl Theater; Bloomington's Old Rock Jail and courthouse square; Naponee's 1887 octagon church; and the 1911 Republican River Bridge near Riverton. The county has four places on the National Register; the Lincoln Hotel, Dupee Music Hall and the Franklin Bridge have been removed from it.

Outdoors

The county has no state park; Harlan County Lake lies just west, in Harlan County. Game and Parks manages the Ash Grove, Limestone Bluffs and Alfon C. Haring Memorial wildlife management areas, and the Rainwater Basin wetlands in the north include the Macon Lakes and Quadhamer waterfowl production areas. Franklin has the South Park Campground, a city pool, the Franklin Golf Club and a hiking trail along Center Creek.

Franklin County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Franklin · Hildreth · Campbell · Bloomington · Riverton · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Kearney County (north) · Webster County (east) · Harlan County (west) · Smith County, Kansas (southeast) · Phillips County, Kansas (southwest); Adams County (northeast) and Phelps County (northwest) touch only at the corners

Events

2026 dates: the Hildreth Fourth of July celebration (July 3–4) and the Franklin County Fair at Franklin (July 8–12), with a ranch rodeo, roughstock rodeo and demolition derby; Bloomington marks Memorial Day and the Fourth of July on its courthouse square.

Franklin County at a Glance

Franklin County, Nebraska — on the Kansas line along the Republican River, just east of Harlan County Lake. County seat Franklin, with six villages.

Getting there: US 136 along the Republican valley, NE 10 from Minden and I-80, and NE 4 across the north.

For visitors: Franklin's courthouse, City Park and county museum, Bloomington's rock jail and courthouse square, Naponee's octagon church near Harlan County Dam, and the Republican River bridge at Riverton. Hospital: Franklin County Memorial Hospital in Franklin.