Broughton House

Architectural evidence, including bark-covered logs used for framing, indicates that the Greek Revival center portion of this house dates to the 1830s, when Benjamin and Charlotte Worthing owned the land. The north wing, with its sawed timbers, may have been moved from another site; its second floor is lower than the one in the center portion. The house bears the name of Daniel Broughton, who owned it from 1866 to1885 and added the south wing. His carriage shop was diagonally across the intersection. Among the early owners of this house were Robert Kyle, who later served in the Civil War, and Jane German, who purchased it from Broughton. Later the building was also a business and a restaurant. It was part of the Franklin Historic District listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Franklin prohibited its demolition in 1971 based on new state and local historic preservation laws. The result was the first legal challenge to these laws; the courts upheld them. The village purchased and renovated the house in 1973.