North Side
In 1886 the only buildings on the north side of the square that are still there today are the Masonic Building, the Foster Building and the Simpson County Grocery Building that eventually became Dunn Brothers Store. In 1886 a saloon was located in the Masonic Building
The above picture is from the intersection of Main and Depot (now Kentucky) Street looking west. The Masonic Building is on the corner and the Presbyterian Church is in the distance at the corner of Depot and College Streets. The picture was taken after 1910.
This photo was taken between 1892 and 1908 and shows the Masonic Building, Foster Building, and Simpson County Grocery Building. In 1886 there were other wood frame buildings on this side of the square but by 1897 this side of the square was empty except for these three buildings. It is possible that because those buildings were wood that they were destroyed by fire because electricity was not common at that time and lighting and heating were by lamps and wood stoves but no written evidence has been found of a fire at that time.
In 1892 the post office was located on the west side of these buildings but no longer existed when this picture was taken. The buildings on the east end were masonry buildings and those on the west side were wood frame buildings. It is possible that because those buildings were wood that they were destroyed by fire since lighting and heating were by oil lamps and wood stoves but no written evidence has been found of a fire at that time. Among the buildings are known lost are the establishment of J.H. Dashwood who was a cabinet maker, embalmer, funeral director and minister in the center of the block and the shop of H.I. Hilton at the corner of Depot and College Streets.
The north side is the background of this 1939 Mule Day photo. The Bryan Building is seen with Donnell's Grocery to the right. Further down the street The Blue Rose Bakery and Massey Furniture can be seen east of the Presbyterian Church.
In the 1970's, Crabtree Furniture occupied the Wright building.
Wright Building 1911
H.I. Hilton operated a curiosity shop and resided in a one and a half story frame building at this location until his death in 1886. This area was known as Hilton's corner. Hilton’s death was a statewide and even somewhat of a national story because of his great wealth and attempt to burn his assets in order to keep his wife and sons from inheriting it. In 1886 there was still frame building at this location that was described as a marble works and can be assumed to be Hilton's building. Between 1892 and 1897 the building was destroyed and became a vacant lot.
The Wright building was built in 1911 by J.M. and S. W. Wright as a three-story building and opened as Simpson County Hardware. J.M. Wright opened "The Country Store" in the building in the mid 1920's. In 1931 it became the home of Hughes and Tiffany Hardware Company which had bought out Franklin Hardware Company a few years previously. In October of 1935, Cudahy Packing Company manager Dick Chauvin announced their relocation to the building.
In 1962 Franklin Furniture moved into the building. On August 1, 1968, George Crabtree opened Crabtree Furniture in the building. In 2002, Beulah Land Antiques moved into the building. In 2007 the building was occupied by Burgers on Square until 2010. It has been vacant since then.
Blue Rose Bakery aft. 1913
The Blue Rose Bakery was started in 1919 in the Stringer Building at the corner of Madison and Main. It moved to this location in 1929. It was started by Milton and Bessie Harris. In 1950 Erick Lindstrom bought the business and it was renamed Franklin Home Bakery.
Willard Law opened his television shop in this location in 1953 and operated there until 1996
Jay Lewis Building aft. 1913
The photo above shows the Wright Building, Blue Rose Bakery, Jay Lewis Building and the unnamed building to the east. Also shown on the right side is the edge of the porch of the Bryan Building. This was taken in the late 1930s. The Jay Lewis Building was later veneered with permastone.
Bryan Building 1908
In 1908, W. H. Bryan built the Bryan Building in the center of the north side of the square. The building housed the Post Office, The Franklin Favorite and a barber shop. Mr. and Mrs. Bryan lived in an upstairs portion of the building. Their son, Walker Bryan was publisher of the Franklin Favorite but died suddenly in 1913 at the age of only 30. It was said that Mr. Bryan never fully recovered from the death of his son. He sold the building in 1917 and then bought it back in 1928 for $14,050. In 1938 after the death of Mr. Bryan, the building sold to Dr. B. W. Neely for $14,000. It contained various office on the second floor. In 1938 the building still housed the Post Office, Franklin-Favorite, and M. G. Law Barber Shop.
In 1950, the Franklin-Favorite moved their offices and press room to a new building on High Street.
The barber shop portion was originally leased to Bud James and Tom Martin. In 1920 M. G. Law moved from Lafayette, Tn. and leased the shop. In 1943 Jimmie Lewis purchased half interest in the M. G. Law Barber Shop. Later in 1943, W. C. Bogle gave notice that he had dissolved his partnership with The City Market and moved his stock of groceries to the building formerly occupied by Law Barber Shop. In 1955, Harding Grocery on East Cedar Street combined with Jimbo’s Market which had been operating in the building and also added the space next door that had been Yokley Furniture. Harding Grocery operated in the building until 1966 when it became Cline Grocery.
The Franklin Post Office was in the building when it was constructed in 1908. In 1941 the Post Office moved into a new building on the north east corner of Main and Washington Streets. The location was formerly the home of Dr. Vanlandingham. The old Post Office portion of the building was home to The Modern Appliance Store from about 1946-1949, managed by Notley Smith. Upstairs became the office of Dr. L. F. Beasley, who had moved to Franklin in 1931 and set up practice in the Southern Kentucky Sanitorium. Later that year Dr. Beasley moved his practice to the north east corner of Madison and College Streets. In 1950 D. O. Pierce moved Pierce Jewelers to the location from Main Street.
Simpson Co. Grocery before 1886
This building is shown to exist in 1886 as a tailor shop in the front and a store in the rear of the building making it one of the older buildings on the square. It continued as two different stores for many years. This was known as the Foster Building in 1904 when it housed A. T. Welch and Company. It had previously been the Grand Leader, a dry goods store run by A. D. Brodsky in 1903 until he moved to the south side of the square. In 1926 the Quaker Maid store opened. It was a division of Altantic and Pacific (A&P) grocery chain. In 1932, the store manager, L. S. “Dick” Chauvin was shot during an armed robbery. In 1941 Red Front Grocery leased the building from H. H. Knapp. The A&P store moved to the south east corner of Main and Cedar Street. In 1956 A&P closed their store in Franklin. In 1950 Joe Waddy Hammond opened Hammond’s Market in the building. This business was located there until 1961 when Hammond purchased the Franklin Supermarket on North Main Street from Harold Dawson and moved his business there. The building was owned by Byron Rogers. The building later became the office of attorney Joe P. Clark.
Foster Building ca. 1871-1886
The Silver Moon Restaurant, owned by L.C. Wright, was here from about 1910 until 1918. The Quaker Maid Store opened in 1926 and was a part of the A & P Grocery Chain. The Farmers Mutual Telephone Company announced in 1912 that they were in the process of building an up to date phone system for Franklin and had already connected to the Temperance Exchange. In the next few weeks, The Long Distance Telephone Company of Louisville would be building a line to Bowling Green so that they could provide long distance service.
Masonic Building ca. 1860
The Masonic Building is likely the oldest building on the square. The first mention of the Masonic Building was in stories of plays being performed in the building just after the Civil War. In 1886 half the lower floor is a saloon and on the third floor, a hall (assumedly a large open space). In 1892 the third floor was described as a “Lodge Hall”. In 1892 it occupied by Saunders and Proctor Co. Funeral Home which became Meador and Saunders Funeral Home in 1893 and later bought by V.N. "Pete" Booker. In 1896 an unnamed saloon was located here. In 1901 a grocery store operated by N. A. Crow was located here and it became commonly known as Crow’s Corner. In 1921 Crow’s Grocery store moved to the east side of the square. In 1927, H. G. Hill Company, a chain of over 600 stores out of Nashville, Tn., opened a grocery store in the Masonic Building. Sanford Thurmond was the manager and Arthur Haner and Virgil Jernigan were his assistants and Joe Haner was a clerk.
The brick on the building was covered with PermaStone in 1951. The building is still today divided into two stores on the first floor with a staircase between the stores that lead to the second and third floors.
Over the years it has housed a variety of businesses in the upper floors. In the 1890's, V.N. Booker purchased the funeral home of Meador and Saunders in the building In the early 1900's it was home to Tom Bottomly's photography studio, Shubert and Crow Jewelry, Joe Cippoli Tailor business, Dr. Rogers and Niccol's Chiropractors. Later it served as office for attorney David Martin, optometrist Ken Compton, the Chamber of Commerce, the Simpson County Health Department, The Flower Patch, Smith Supplies, Kelley Parrish and many others.
The above photos show the brick work done on the sides of the building before permastone was applied. Windows were removed from the first floor and rear of the building and a door added on the side. All windows seem to have been replaced in the building as there is evidence of brick work around them.
Bill's Auto Associate Store existed from about 1946-1956 and was owned by L.S. Chauvin and H.G. Guthrie. In this photo, four of the front windows had been bricked over and a new store front installed. The building was given its current permastone exterior. in 1951.
The inside of the H.G. Hill Grocery. Pictured are Sanford Thurmond and Odie Lee Harris.