Things you didn’t know about Franklin County, VA
Hi friends, welcome back to the blog!
As someone that grew up in and around Franklin County, there is plenty to do and see, today, I’m going to explore a few things that you may not have known about the ‘moonshine capital of the world’ and share them with you.
Coins (US Mint and Silver)
From 1946 to 1951, the US mint produced a half-dollar coin featuring Booker T. Washington, but it also features the cabin where he was born and has Franklin County, Virginia printed on it.
This 90% silver Philadelphia Mint half-dollar was issued to honor the ideals and teachings of an extraordinary American, Booker T. Washington.
Born a slave's son on a Virginia plantation in 1856, Washington raised himself from poverty to become an educator, author, and key contributor to African American advancement. This handsome coin bears his portrait on the obverse and his log cabin birthplace, and the legend from slave cabin to hall of fame on the reverse.
The other coin that was produced is fairly recent, it’s the 50th Anniversary Silver Coin of Smith Mountain Lake. Also made of pure silver, there were just 500 of these made and sold in and around the lake area back in 2016. Today, these coins are worth roughly $90 each due to their rarity.
You can ford with Your SUV/Truck
Believe it or not, some roads in the county still allow you to ‘ford’ through them, one of the most popular among the off-road community is off Farm View Rd. allowing you to cross over the Blackwater River. With water roughly 15” deep during the off-season, you can take your truck or SUV through the river, although I recommend that you have a 4WD system.
Booker T. Washington Elementary School
While everyone knows about the Booker T. Washington National park, did you know there is a former elementary school on the campus too?
This was a segregated school in Franklin County, Virginia, that opened from 1953 to 1966. This former school was acquired in 1973 by the National Park Service as part of a six-acre addition to the Booker T. Washington National Monument. Today, it serves as their administration building and is hidden from the monument.
Bald Knob and its VERY Rare Plant
Located just behind Franklin County High School is Bald Knob, a 1,400 ft high mountain that offers some wonderful views of Rocky Mount and the Blue Ridge mountains, if you ever get a chance to hike up there, do it!
But, one of the neat things about Bald Knob is that it features a rare plant. To date, this species called the Piedmont Fameflower (Phemeranthus piedmontanus) has only been documented at a handful of sites in the world.
There is no town under Smith Mountain Lake, but…
Local opposition to the construction of the dam that created Smith Mountain Lake in the 1960s was mitigated by the decision of the Appalachian Power Company to find family cemeteries and move 1,135 graves from the future lake bottom.
George Washington visited Franklin County
The threat of Indian raids from the West at about that time prompted the Government at Williamsburg to order a string of forts built from the Potomac River to the North Carolina line. Young George Washington was charged with having the forts built and garrisoned.
Three of the forts were built in what was Halifax County at that time. One was on the Blackwater River in present Franklin County; one (Fort Trial) was built on the Smith River in present Henry County and one (Fort Mayo) was built on the North Mayo River in present Patrick County on the land of John Frederick Miller.
George Washington, then 24 years of age, visited the three Forts in October 1756.
He spent at least one night at Fort Mayo and wrote several letters from here, which are yet in existence. He was rather critical of what he saw. After his reports were received at Williamsburg, the Colonial Government decided to permanently garrison only one of the forts. Fort Mayo was the one chosen.
“Near here stood a stockade erected by Capt. Nathaniel Terry and garrisoned by men under his command. Washington made “Terry’s Fort” a link in his chain of forts and inspected it in the fall of 1756.”
The ‘What About Bob’ movie was filmed in Franklin County
Filmed over at Smith Mountain Lake, the “What About Bob” house is on the Franklin County side at the end of route 616 close to Bernards Landing. The house still sits today and many of the roads used in the movie were from Route 616 and others in the area.
They also filmed part of the movie on the Bedford side in the old part of Moneta and Bedford too.
In the movie, they blew up the house, although it was a 3/4 scale model of the house that was built on a lot at Benards Landing, just a few miles away.
