Western Ky Gas ca 1886
This builiding seems to have been in existence since at least 1886 when it was a millinery with a shoe maker in the rear of the building. By 1892 it was a grocery with an agriculture implement business in the rear portion. By 1897 the entire first floor was a grocery and a telephone exchange was located on the second floor. At some point after 1913 it became Self's Pool Room.
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This was Self's Pool Room until 1922 when E.T. Meador opened up a grocery in this building. In 1923 he sold the grocery business to Charles Vance and Henry Bryan and it was known most commonly as Charlie Vance Grocery.
In 1935 Western Kentucky Gas began occupying the space. The owner of the building for many years was Miss Jennie Crowdus. After her death, the building was sold in 1985. Western Kentucky Gas stayed there sixty two years until they closed their office in 1997. Afterward it became the Gaslight Café until 2007.
Browning's Grocery ca 1897
In 1886 this locations was occupied by a small one story building that housed a shoe maker. By 1897 the current two story masonry building seems to have appeared and is home to a carriage repository. A repository was a building in which to store carriages which made sense because there was a livery across the street. By 1908 there was a produce market there. By 1925 it was listed simply as a sales building.
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R.E. Browning managed the H.G. Hill Grocery in the Masonic Building at the northwest corner of the square. In 1938 He was operating his own grocery in the same building. In 1942 he moved Browning's Grocery to West Cedar Street next to the Hatter Building. He operated there until 1953 when Ford's Furniture expanded their business into the building. In 1962 Kwality Bakery opened business in the building. Kwality Bakery was owned by M.S. "Woo" DaVee and his wife Fletcher DaVee. They operated the store until 1972 when Mr. and Mrs. Paul Smith began operating the store and changed the name to Ye Ole Bakery Shop.
In 1977 the building became the location of Deemers Florist. In 1980 the business was purchased by David and Carol Houk and was renamed the Cedars Flowers and Gifts. It has operated as such until the present day.
Hatter Hardware
Cedar Inn ca 1855
This building was on the south side of West Cedar Street across the alley from Hatter Hardware. In 1965, the Franklin-Simpson High School Young Historians Club determined that the building was likely the oldest still standing in Franklin. This determination was made because the bricks were laid in an interlocking pattern so as to strengthen the walls. A Greek key design found on one of the mantles is one that was popular in the 1850's.
In 1886 it seemed to be actually a group of four masonry buildings used as dwellings. They each seemed to be small buildings measuring only about twenty by twenty feet although the eastern most building had a wooden addition on the back that more than doubled the size of that building. The buildings were reportedly used as two residences. By 1897 the western most building had been removed and the lot that it sat on became a part of the McAlister Harris house lot next door. By at least 1908, Dr. W.H. Williams lived with his wife in the home and it was often called the Williams Boarding House as it had about nine boarders also living there. Dr. Williams died in 1927 and his son Jesse Williams lived there and rented rooms until 1932 when he sold the property to Dr. L.E. Thompson for $3750.
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Over the years the buildings slowly merged into one with additions added on the rear over the years. In 1941 Dr. Thompson sold the property to James Fisher Leake and we see advertisements for rooms for rent at the Cedar Inn. Mrs. N.E. Pope managed the business and it seems to have been apartments, rooms for rent, and offices on the first floor. After J.F. Leake's death, his son Neely Leake took over renting the building. In 1965 the building was torn down.
McAlister Harris Home ca 1897
At the southwest corner of West Cedar and High Streets there was this beautiful home. It was reported to have been built by Ben Harris after he returned from the Spanish American War. The war ended in 1898 and maps show the house was there in 1897. Also the fact that Ben Harris was only 21 years old in 1897 and the fact that the home was known as the McAlister Harris home lends possibility that his father, McAlister Seymour Harris was at least partially responsible for the building of the home.
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In 1965 Uptown Gulf was built at this location.
Kroger Building 1955
At the northeast corner of West Cedar and High Streets there was the McGlothlin Brothers Livery in 1886. There was a stone building on the eastern edge of the lot with a coral on the western side of the lot. By 1892 it was the livery of C. H. Taylor and there was a blacksmith and wagon shop operating in the stone building. In 1897 the livery was owned by A.E. Nichols. In 1901 it was operated by McClanahan and Perdue. By 1925 the livery and the roof over it seems to be gone and the stone building was a warehouse. By 1940 it was simply a vacant lot.
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In 1955 Kroger moved from the south side of the square to a modern store built at this location. The building was owned by W. L. Hatter and built by Hubert Creasy Lumber Company. The building cost approximately $40,000 and was leased to Kroger Corporation on a long term lease.
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In 1969, Kroger built a new 10,000 square foot store on North College Street where Dollar General is now located. In 1971 Cuzzin Jacks moved into the building. In 1976 the building was converted to offices.
Gooch Home before 1910
This home was located at the northwest corner of High and West Cedar Streets. The palatial home was equipped with running water and electric lights and the third floor was a ballroom for social gatherings. It included a cottage and stable on High Street where the Franklin-Favorite was later built.
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William Janius Gooch was born in Farmington Missouri 1857 and moved with his family to Simpson County in 1866. He served as Simpson Counties' representative to the State Legislature for two terms and was elected Speaker of the House in 1908. Mr. Gooch died suddenly on January 12, 1917 from pneumonia and gallstones at his apartment in the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, KY. He was the son of prominent businessman Patrick Henry Gooch. He was survived by his daughter Nell Gooch Travelstead.
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After his death, his home was purchased by James M. Crocker and after his death was purchased by Mrs. W.R. Bryan. In 1943 the home was leased by Mrs. Neely Gossett for use as a boarding house when a fire broke out on the third floor and the house was destroyed. Later Houchens Markets built a store on the sight
Simpson Co. Creamery 1924
This location is on High Street behind what is now American Dry Cleaners. The lot was empty in 1886 but by 1892 two small cabins appear on the lot. In 1908 one of the cabins are gone and a cobbler is shown operating in the remaining cabin. The remaining cabin was gone by 1925.
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The Simpson County Creamery opened in 1924 by the farmers and milk producers of Simpson County in order to create a market for their product. The president was M. A. Harris. It operated until 1929 when because of the high overhead and low supply of cream, the equipment was sold to The Pet Milk Company in Bowling Green. The building was behind the Methodist Church and behind two homes on Kentucky Street that are now occupied by American Cleaners and Robert Link, Attorney. It was a masonry building and in 1940 was home to an auto repair shop. Exactly when the building was torn down is unknown.