Franklin, North Carolina
Franklin is a town in Franklin Township, Macon County, North Carolina, United States, within the Nantahala National Forest. The population was 3,845 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Macon County. The Franklin area is rich in gems and minerals and is known locally as the "Gem Capital of The World."The town developed around a 1,000-year old platform mound, the center here of the large historic Cherokee town of Nikwasi, and their indigenous... Show more ancestors. They were forced to cede their land to the United States in 1819. The site was privately owned for more than 100 years. Franklin bought the site in 1946 to preserve the mound, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee is working with the town on the non-profit Nikwasi Initiative, to manage the mound and form a corridor related to historic Cherokee sites...