Franklin County, Virginia

Franklin County, Virginia
Franklin County Courthouse in May 2010
Location in the U.S. state of Virginia
Virginia's location in the U.S.
Founded	1785
Named for	Benjamin Franklin
Seat	Rocky Mount
Largest town	Rocky Mount
Area
• Total	712 sq mi (1,844 km2)
• Land	690 sq mi (1,787 km2)
• Water	21 sq mi (54 km2), 3.0%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	56,264
• Density	79/sq mi (31/km²)
Congressional district	5th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.franklincountyva.gov

Franklin County is a county located in the Blue Ridge foothills of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 56,159. Its county seat is Rocky Mount.

Franklin County is part of the Roanoke, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located in the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The Roanoke River forms its northeast boundary with Bedford County.

The Blue Ridge Foothills had long been inhabited by indigenous peoples. At the time of European encounter, mostly Siouan-speaking tribes lived in this area.

A few colonists moved into the area before the American Revolutionary War, but most settlement happened afterward, as people moved west seeking new lands. Cultivation of tobacco had exhausted soils in the eastern part of the state. The county was formed in 1785 from parts of Bedford and Henry counties. It was named for Benjamin Franklin. The Piedmont and backcountry areas were largely settled by Scots-Irish, who were the last major immigrant group from the British Isles to enter the colonies before the Revolutionary War. There were also migrants from coastal areas, including free people of color, who moved to the frontier to escape racial strictures associated with the slave society of Virginia.

In the 20th century during Prohibition, local wits named Franklin County the "Moonshine Capital of the World", as moonshine production and bootlegging drove the economy. As of 2000, the local chamber of commerce had adopted the title as a heritage identification for the area. Moonshine is still being made in the area.