Texas Department of Agriculture

District 4 4-H web-site

MT.Vernon Weather

Food & Nutrition

Aquaplant

The Franklin County office of Texas Cooperative Extension is housed in the historic 1912 Jail at 210 N. Kaufman Street, Mount Vernon. Located in the northeast corner of Texas, Mount Vernon is home to beautiful spring fed Lake Cypress Springs.

Franklin County is the 8th smallest county of the 254 counties in the State of Texas and is old by Texas standards. The Cherokee Trace, a Caddo Indian highway which led from the southern regions of the Caddo Confederacy at Nacogdoches to the Oklahoma area west of Clarksville, runs along the eastern boundary of the county. The Cherokee Indians traveled this highway in the early 1830's when they were expelled from their lands in the eastern states, and a decade later they traveled the same route when the Republic of Texas, under President Mirabeau Lamar, expelled them to Oklahoma. An East-West Indian Trade Route, the Choctaw Trail, passes through the county and parallels present-day U.S. Highway 67. Franklin County was first a part of Red River County, one of the 16 original counties in the Republic of Texas. In 1875, Franklin County was carved out of Titus County.

Franklin County is among the top counties in dairy and broiler production. Hay, which supports the dairy and beef industries, is the principal crop. Blueberries, peaches, Christmas trees and a few row crops are also marketed.