East Texas / Piney Woods
Franklin County, Texas
A local guide to the county: the stories that give it a shape, practical checks, and a few things worth knowing before they surprise you. Every note points to its source.
7 stories · 3 practical · 0 good to know
The practical part
Franklin County offices and deadlines
Appraisal district & tax office →
The Comptroller's official directory for Franklin County: who sets your value and who sends the bill.
Homestead exemption →
File Form 50-114 with the appraisal district. It is free. The regular deadline is April 30, and late filing is allowed for up to two years.
Protest your appraisal →
The usual deadline is May 15, or 30 days after your notice arrives, whichever is later.
Estimate a tax bill →
Model a bill from local rates, the homestead exemption, and the appraisal cap.
Start here
A little of what makes this place itself
Mount Vernon · Courthouse Square
Mount Vernon's 1912 Courthouse Gives the Square Its Center
The active courthouse on the Mount Vernon square is a 1912 Classical Revival building with limestone, columns, and a clocktower.
Lake Cypress Springs · Lake Habitat
Lake Cypress Springs Makes Franklin County Feel Like Water, Not Just Woods
Lake Cypress Springs gives Franklin County shallow bays, piney shorelines, winter waterfowl, and a different outdoor mood from the courthouse square.
Daphne Prairie · Prairie Habitat
Daphne Prairie Puts Grassland in the Piney Woods
Daphne Prairie gives eastern Franklin County a grassland pocket with old mounds, wet winter ground, and birds that do not fit the usual woods-and-lake picture.
All 10 local notes
The full county shelf is mixed so stories and useful checks travel together. Use the filters when you need one kind.
Showing all 10 notes.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Mount Vernon's 1912 Courthouse Gives the Square Its Center The active courthouse on the Mount Vernon square is a 1912 Classical Revival building with limestone, columns, and a clocktower. Mount Vernon
- Practical Outdoors Lake Cypress Springs Offers Public Fishing and Boating Lake Cypress Springs is a 3,461-acre reservoir in Franklin County open to the public for fishing, boating, and recreation.
- Stories & local character Outdoors Lake Cypress Springs Makes Franklin County Feel Like Water, Not Just Woods Lake Cypress Springs gives Franklin County shallow bays, piney shorelines, winter waterfowl, and a different outdoor mood from the courthouse square. Lake Cypress Springs
- Practical Money & Taxes Homestead Exemption Cuts Your School Tax Bill If your home is your main residence, you can apply for a homestead exemption that lowers the taxable value of your property.
- Stories & local character Outdoors Daphne Prairie Puts Grassland in the Piney Woods Daphne Prairie gives eastern Franklin County a grassland pocket with old mounds, wet winter ground, and birds that do not fit the usual woods-and-lake picture. Daphne Prairie
- Practical Money & Taxes Two Offices Handle Your Property Taxes Franklin County splits property tax work between two offices: one sets your value, the other collects the bill.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Hagansport Started as a River Crossing Hagansport began around Hagan's Port on the Sulphur River, then shifted south toward the road junction people know today. Hagansport
- Stories & local character History & Culture Old Bankhead Highway Still Runs Through Mount Vernon's Story Mount Vernon sat on the Texas path of the Bankhead Highway, the old auto route that helped turn Main Street into a road-era business district. Mount Vernon
- Stories & local character History & Culture Scroggins Began With a Sawmill and a Railroad Stop Scroggins grew from an 1850s settlement into a sawmill-and-rail shipping point southeast of Mount Vernon. Scroggins
- Stories & local character History & Culture Franklin County Was Named for a Judge, Not the President Franklin County was created in 1875 and named for Judge Benjamin C. Franklin, an early Red River County settler and jurist — not for Benjamin Franklin.
Nearby counties