Old Franklin Jail ?

Today, while searching for a couple of old schoolhouses, Jim and I were told about the Franklin Jail still standing in a field. So, naturally, we found it!

Enjoy!

Video Below!

UPDATE! A friend of the site wrote this to me today (10/7/10):

Denny,

I got time this after noon to go up behind the Franklin Baptist Church to look at the block structure that was referred to as the "Old Franklin Jail" in the video on the EIC website.

I asked around and according to JD Roberts who grew up just below there, that used to be used as an old root cellar to store the canned goods etc by the people who lived in the house located beside the block structure.

JD said the house that once stood on the foundation beside the block bldg. belonged to Mary and Dolmus ( spelled as it sounded), he could not remember their last name.

Later, Mary Williams built a house behind there and it to burned at a later time.

Another friend of the site had once asked us about the building featured in this post and told us that she did not ever remember a jail being at this location. This latest information certainly seems to confirm it.

We've gotten it wrong before...and likely will in the future. But we try. Oh yes we do!

Luckily we have friends like these to set us straight.


Note - One of the schoolhouses we were looking for was one near Sweet Home between Franklin and Lacrosse. A video-clip is included at the end of this video. The Sweet Home community served as home to many African-American families...most descended from slaves that once helped bring progress to Izard County. Because of this school's close proximity to Sweet Home, we are pretty sure it was a "colored school".

The Watkins Cemetery

The Watkins Cemetery is on property once part of the Watkins Plantation near "Wild Haws" (present-day Lacrosse). Three brothers migrated to the Izard County area from Williamson County Tn in 1844 to collectively build the largest plantation in the county owning the greatest number of slaves. Nearby once stood one of the most impressive plantation homes in North Central Arkansas, a two-story brick structure built by slaves with materials manufactured on the plantation. We have been told that there are still some of the original Watkins Plantation buildings standing in the area and intend to track them down. Rick remembers visiting one of the slave quarters as a child before it was dismantled. It stood within yards of the cemetery shown here.
Note - There is a home just east of Melbourne along State Highway 69S built from the brick once used in the old plantation house.

Video Below!