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Across east Tennessee, a mystique remains when it comes to Franklin – the ill-fated “lost state” named for Benjamin Franklin. Organized in 1784, and once stretching across the mountains of East Tennessee, from Bristol along the Virginia border to present-day Blount County, the Lost State of Franklin existed for four years in what had been the westernmost reaches of North Carolina. Franklin faded by the spring of 1788, and this same area became part of Tennessee.
Today, still, Johnson City pays tribute with the State of Franklin Bank, the Shops at Franklin and the State of Franklin Road. A few miles south, Greeneville boasts a log replica of the original State of Franklin capitol building that once stood on Main Street.
Why a replica?
Well, therein lies the mystery. The original building – at least, the cabin many believed had been used as the capitol – was dismantled and hauled to Knoxville in 1897. Then it was shipped, by barge, to Nashville for Tennessee’s centennial celebration, held one year late.
And after that? The lost state’s capitol was lost.
Faith Stahl, a historian and author, once uncovered a tale saying a great flood hit Nashville, and pieces of the cabin were swept away by water.
But, no full explanation was ever forthcoming, says Earl Fletcher, a former Greene County history teacher and director of Greeneville’s Nathanael Greene Museum.
“The most common theory is that a barge on the river sank, and they lost the building in its transport back up here,” says Fletcher, a direct descendant of Franklin’s governor, John Sevier.
“No one actually, absolutely knows what happened to that building,” Fletcher says. “The only thing they know is that it did not come back.”
In 1966, Greeneville residents relied on an old photograph – plus historical notes – to build a replica of the lost capitol, using parts of another cabin dating to the 1700s. That replica stands today as a memorial to a short-lived state that never won its place on Ol’ Glory.
For information: nathanaelgreenemuseum.com, 423-636-1558.
—Joe Tennis, the author of books including “Finding Franklin,” a children’s adventure novel based on the Lost State of Franklin’s lost capitol and published by Backyard Books.
