Franklin County, Illinois
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory lists 16 newspaper titles published in Franklin County, Illinois, with the earliest starting in 1850. None of these titles are currently digitized on Chronicling America. The National Register of Historic Places includes 3 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1982. Most listings are in or near Benton, Sesser, West Frankfort.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers published in Franklin
Library of Congress16 newspaper titles
| Title | Place | Years |
|---|---|---|
| The Benton Standard | Benton | 1850–1999 |
| Franklin Democrat | Benton | 1860–1899 |
| Franklin County Courier | Benton | 1874–1899 |
| The Illinois Republican | Benton | 1878–1999 |
| The Legal Tender | Benton | 1879–1899 |
| Franklin Chronicle | Benton | 1880–1881 |
| Franklin County Chronicle | Benton | 1881–1899 |
| The Benton Republican | Benton | 1890–1999 |
| The Christopher Progress | Christopher | 1900–1970 |
| The Daily American | West Frankfort | 1900–1999 |
| The Daily American | West Franklin | 1900–1999 |
| The Frankfort American | West Frankfort | 1900–1999 |
| The Christopher News | Christopher | 1906–1999 |
| The Daily American | West Frankfort | 1920–? |
| The Benton Evening News | Benton | 1922–? |
| McLeansboro Gazette | Benton | 2014–? |
Source: Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory. “Digitized” links lead to page images on Chronicling America.
Coverage timeline
NewspapersEach bar is one title’s publication span. brown = digitized on Chronicling America Open-ended runs extend to today.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP2 of 3 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
3 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Franklin County Jail | Benton | 1999 |
| Sesser Opera House | Sesser | 1982 |
| West Frankfort City Hall | West Frankfort | 2002 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBFranklin was formed in 1818 (1818-01-02) from Gallatin, Johnson, White.
FRANKLIN created by Illinois Territory from GALLATIN, JOHNSON, and WHITE.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusFranklin County population from 1820 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1820 | 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,763 | 3,682 | 9,393 | 16,129 | 19,675 | 57,293 | 53,137 | 48,685 | 39,281 | 43,201 | 39,018 | 37,804 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS85 cemeteries and 2 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 80 of 85 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Baxter Cemetery |
| Bear Point Cemetery |
| Boner Cemetery |
| Brady Cemetery |
| Browning Cemetery |
| Browning Cemetery |
| Browning Hill Cemetery |
| Butler Cemetery |
| Clem Cemetery |
| Cook Cemetery |
| Cook Cemetery |
| County Cemetery |
| County Poor Farm Cemetery |
| Crawford Cemetery |
| Cypher Cemetery |
| Dawson Cemetery |
| Denning Cemetery |
| Downs Cemetery |
| Drummond Cemetery |
| Ewing Cemetery |
| Fairview Cemetery |
| Follis Cemetery |
| Franklin Cemetery |
| Franklin Cemetery |
| Gilgal Cemetery |
| Grammer Cemetery |
| Greenwood Cemetery |
| Hammond Cemetery |
| Hanes Cemetery |
| Harrison Cemetery |
| Hickory Corners Cemetery |
| Isaacs Cemetery |
| Jacksonville Cemetery |
| Jones Cemetery |
| Joplin Cemetery |
| Knight Cemetery |
| Lithuanian Cemetery |
| Manion Cemetery |
| Maple Hill Cemetery |
| Masonic and Oddfellows Cemetery |
| Melvin Cemetery |
| Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Middle Fork Cemetery |
| Miller Cemetery |
| Miners Cemetery |
| Miners Cemetery |
| Mitchell Cemetery |
| Moser Cemetery |
| Moyers Cemetery |
| Mulkeytown Cemetery |
| Naylor Cemetery |
| Neal Cemetery |
| Neal Cemetery |
| New Union Cemetery |
| Oddfellow Cemetery |
| Old Mulkey Cemetery |
| Osage Cemetery |
| Otterson Cemetery |
| Overturf Cemetery |
| Phillips Cemetery |
| Rea Cemetery |
| Reid - Kirkpatrick Cemetery |
| Rose Cemetery |
| Saint Aloysius Cemetery |
| Saint Andrew Cemetery |
| Saint Johns Cemetery |
| Saint Joseph Cemetery |
| Saint Marys Cemetery |
| Saint Marys Orthodox Cemetery |
| Shiloh Cemetery |
| Smith Cemetery |
| Smith Cemetery |
| Smothers Cemetery |
| Swofford Cemetery |
| Thurmond Cemetery |
| Tower Heights Cemetery |
| Trinity Cemetery |
| Vaughn Cemetery |
| Walnut Grove Cemetery |
| Ward Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 2 of 2
| Name |
|---|
| Greenville |
| Locust Grove |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Franklin County, Illinois
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.