The Barretts: A Franklin Pioneer Family
In 1847 one of Franklin's most influential
couples, Richard and Mary Rebecca Murfee
Barrett, married and received a 260 acre farm
from Mary's father, Simon. The couple built a
house near the center of the new settlement
and began providing meals to the railroad's
track layers. The Barretts' new business soon
developed into a hotel, a popular stopover
on the Norfolk to Edenton run. In 1857
Richard persuaded the railroad to relocate its
depot to the west side of the river and build a
larger hotel to accommodate the rapidly
increasing rail and river traffic. The Barrett
Hotel, located on one of the four corners
created by the railroad and Main Street, was
a large building with double verandas, which
"ranked as high as the reputation of the
hotels of Norfolk, Richmond and Baltimore."
The hotel burned in 1881 but the Barretts
continued to be leaders in Franklin's early
commercial, social, and religious life.
(Lower left picture included:)
...Mary Rebecca Murfee Barrett (1822- 1897)...
(Left center picture included:)
The Barrett family ...
(Upper right center picture included:)
Richard Crawford Barrett (1849 - 1928), son of Richard
and Mary Rebecca, and his wife, ...
(Left lower center picture included:)
...desk from Goodman and Barrett's drugstore ...
(Far left picture included:)
Barrett's Cornet Band, ca. 1890 ...
(Bottom; Franklin Timeline included:)
1903 - The Parker Buggy Company sparks a "buggy boom."
1906 - Franklin begins developing a water and sewage system.
1907 - C.C. Vaughan buys the first automobile in Southampton.
1910 - Franklin's wooden Blackwater Bridge is replaced with a steel bridge.
1912 - The Franklin Female Seminary becomes a public school.
1913 - Two automobile dealerships open in Franklin.
1917 - 1918 America fights in World War I. Franklin begins to pave its streets with oil - soaked gravel.
1922 - Franklin adopts the Town Manager form of government and builds a brick high school.
1926 - The Franklin - Murfreesboro Road is built and the Franklin Public Library is established.
Marker is at the intersection of Main Street and South Street, on the right when traveling west on Main Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
