Our History
The City of New Franklin, founded in 1828 after the town of Franklin washed away in the 1826 & 1828 floods, was chartered in 1835. Known as the town where the four trails meet...marking the end of the Boonslick Road, the beginning of the Santa Fe Trail, including the Lewis & Clark Trail and the Katy Trail...history awaits in every direction!
Downtown you can visit the South Howard County Historical Society Museum at 110 E. Broadway and learn all about the area's history. In the center of Broadway are area information kiosk's that surround "The Rock" placed there by the DAR in 1909. This rock honors the Eastern Terminus of the Santa Fe Trail which connected Franklin, MO to Santa Fe, a city in the 1820's Mexican Territory.
Transportation has always played an important role in the New Franklin area history and the M-K-T Railroad was added in 1867. It eventually included a concrete highway viaduct built across the eight tracks, a roundhouse, railroad yard and the entire community of Franklin Junction. The only remaining signs of this bygone era are remnants of the roundhouse, the hole where it stood and the yard office building all found in the Katy Roundhouse Campground. This 45-acre park at Katy Trail Marker #189 features full hookup RV spots and primitive campsites. One other remnant is the red Katy Caboose found south of downtown where the Katy Trail State Park crosses Route 5.
The Thomas Hickman House is a one-and-one half story brick house located on the University of Missouri Horticulture and Agroforestry Center in New Franklin, Missouri. This Georgian-style cottage was constructed for the every Howard County merchant Thomas Hickman and is one of the oldest houses in Howard County.
When traveling west one-half mile on Highway 87 just north of the Boonville bridge you will see markers honoring the former town of Franklin. It was the site of the first newspaper west of the Mississippi River, the Missouri
Intelligencer, and the home of many other "firsts" in the Boonslick Region.
There you will find the Franklin, Mother of the Santa Fe Trail monument. These five granite stones depict William Becknell (father of the Santa Fe Trail), Josiah Gregg, Kit Carson, Ezekiel Williams, Millie Cooper and George Caleb Bingham, who all lived in the historic town of nearby Franklin.
Traveling south on Route 5 you will find Rivercene, a nationally-renowned historic site that continues to draw visitors year after year for its fascinating history and authentic atmosphere. Once a civil-war era summer home for the aristocratic Kinney family. Rivercene invites you to learn more about Missouri's history, long bygone traditions and lifestyles.