Franklinton is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, just west of its downtown. Settled in 1797, Franklinton is the first American settlement in Franklin County, and was the county seat until 1824. As the city of Columbus grew, the city annexed and incorporated the existing settlement in 1859. Franklinton is bordered by the Scioto River on the north and east, Harmon Avenue on the east, Stimmel Road and Greenlawn Avenue on the south, and Interstate 70 on the west. Its main thoroughfare is West Broad Street, one of the city's two main roads.
A portion of the neighborhood is sometimes called The Bottoms because much of the land is subject to flooding from the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and a floodwall is required to contain the rivers and protect the area from floods. The low-lying bottom land was well suited for farming, with the river serving as a direct connection to the Ohio River. The floodwall, completed in 2004, spurred developments in East Franklinton. The projects involved demolition of three public housing projects, displacing its former residents to other areas. The developments are predominantly luxury mixed-use buildings, spurring significant gentrification in the neighborhood.
History
Settlement and founding (1795–1859)
In 1795 Lucas Sullivant was employed by the Commonwealth of Virginia to survey the Central Ohio portion of the Virginia Military District. Sullivant, along with approximately 20 men surveyed the western side of the Scioto River at the confluence of the Olentangy and Scioto Rivers. As payment for his work, Sullivant was given 6,000 acres in the Refugee Tract reserved for those who aided the American Revolution.
Sullivant, after surveying the land, returned to Kentucky where he courted Sarah Starling, the daughter of his mentor Colonel William Starling. In 1797, Sullivant returned to the Ohio and laid out a village of 220 lots in Franklin County, which he named Franklinton in honor of the recently deceased Benjamin Franklin. This original settlement fronted the forks of the rivers. In 1798, a year later, a flood submerged most of the town. Sullivant then relocated the settlement to an adjacent space, simply on a higher elevation off of the riverbank.
The replatted town was laid out in blocks that contained four lots in a square, with each lot measuring 99' wide by 115' deep. To encourage people to move to the new settlement, Sullivant offered free land for anyone willing to build a house along Gift Street, near the eastern edge of his plat. Along with platting and settling the town, Sullivant also built several structures out of brick and glass from Philadelphia. These buildings included a courthouse, a brick home to impress Starling (who was wed to Sullivant in 1801), a brick church and the first bridge across the Scioto River.
The town of Franklinton was then made the county seat of Franklin County in 1803, when Franklin County was created from Ross County. The population and town grew during the War of 1812, as Franklinton served as a staging point for General William Henry Harrison's Army of the Northwest. Following the war, the community continued to grow with the expansion of the country's railway system along with the construction of a new state capital, Columbus, on the opposite side of the Scioto River. Columbus's growth eventually led to it being named county seat in 1824 and Franklinton was annexed by the city in 1859.
In 1846, traveler Henry Howe had this to say about Franklinton: "Franklinton lies on the west side of the Scioto, opposite Columbus. It was the first town laid off in the Scioto valley north of Chillicothe. From the formation of the county, in 1803, it remained its seat of justice until 1824, when it was removed to Columbus. During the late war, it was a place of general rendezvous for the northwestern army, and sometimes from one to three thousand troops were stationed there. In those days, it was a place of considerable note; it is now a small village, containing, by the census of 1840, 394 inhabitants."
He visited again in 1886, writing: "Franklinton now is included in the city of Columbus. It has changed less than any part of the city so near the centre, and preserves to this day many of its old style village features. It is a quiet spot, but cannot much longer so remain in the rapid progress of improvements."
Post-annexation (1860–1899)
