Barn Quilts of the Boonslick 2022

NEW FRANKLIN Where the Santa Fe Trail Begins! NewFranklinMo.org

Franklin: Mother of the Santa Fe Trail in New Franklin. Holly Kite.

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Intelligencer —the first newspaper west of the Mississippi River. The history of music is also appar ent in this small town. You can visit the grave of Edgar “Jelly” Settle, song writer of the Missouri Waltz the state’s official song (perhaps originally titled the Graveyard Waltz ) in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. The music lives on through New Franklin’s hometown star, country singer Sara Evans.

here are two towns named Franklin in Boonslick coun try, but the original town of Franklin, which was char

nell, Josiah Gregg, Kit Carson, Ezekial Williams, Millie Cooper, and George Caleb Bingham who all lived in Frank lin. You will also find the Conestoga Wagon building. On Route 87, you will see markers that tell the story about the town of Franklin and a flag pole in a farm er’s field that shows where the cen ter of town was. It was the home of the Santa Fe Trail and the Missouri

tered in 1816 and was a hub of activity, is no more. It was the largest town west of the Mississippi River and became the starting off point for the Santa Fe Trail when William Becknell organized the first Santa Fe trek that left Franklin on September 1, 1821. The Missouri River floods of 1826 and 1828 caused the abandonment of the town Franklin. New Franklin was built up the hill and was chartered in 1828 where it became a railroad town. The town of Franklin Junction (currently Franklin) was built as a railroad hub a few years later. The Katy Trail State Park runs through both communities, and there is a trailhead just south of downtown New Franklin and overnight camping at the Katy Roundhouse Campground. The town is known as the four trails because the Katy Trail State Park, Boonslick Road, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Lewis and Clark Trail all converge here. History waits in every direction in downtown New Franklin. You can visit the South Howard County Museum or the kiosk’s in downtown New Franklin. Down the hill on the Katy Trail, a ca boose reminds us of the town’s rail road history. There you will find granite monuments depicting William Beck

The Thomas Hickman House, circa 1819, located on the grounds of the MU Horticulture & Agroforestry Research Center at the western edge of town, is the oldest known brick building west of the Mississippi River. Courtesy of MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

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