William Bartram, Franklin
The Bartram marker is a simple bronze tablet attached to a large granite boulder. Also attached beneath the tablet are bronze emblems for the North Carolina Garden Club and the NC Bartram Trail Association of Franklin County.
Images (by Cosmos Mariner, courtesy of HMdb.org):
Far-off view of the memorial marker.
WILLIAM BARTRAM / NATURALIST / VISITED THIS AREA OF THE CHEROKEE NATION / IN MAY, 1775 / WHILE ON HIS MISSION TO RECORD THE NATURAL / AND CULTURAL RESOURCES ALONG THE TRADING / ROUTE BETWEEN THE LOW COUNTRY TO THE EAST / AND THE OVERHILL COUNTRY TO THE WEST. / THE BARTRAM TRAIL, / COMMEMORATING HIS JOURNEY, / PASSES NEAR HERE. / MAY 1985
Macon County
May 1985
35.182010 , -83.381110
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Bartram, William. Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges, or Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws; Containing An Account of the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions, Together with Observations on the Manners of the Indians. Embellished with Copper-Plates, Philadelphia: Printed by James & Johnson, 1791, (accessed March 26, 2022) Link
Parramore, Thomas C., 1979. “Bartram, William,” NCPedia.org, (accessed January 7, 2022) Link
Powell, William S., 2006. “Travels of William Bartram,” NCPedia.org, (accessed January 7, 2022) Link
“William Bartram Naturalist,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed January 7, 2022) Link
“William Bartram, Naturalist - Franklin, NC,” Waymarking.com, (accessed January 7, 2022) Link
Yes
Bronze, granite
North Carolina Bartram Trail Society of Franklin County and the North Carolina Garden Club
William Bartram (1739-1823) is famous for his work of natural history “Travels of William Bartram”. The work documents his four-year journey through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. Bartram also recorded the customs and history of the Seminole, Cherokee and Creek Indian Nations, becoming an early authority on these Native Americans. Bartram had prominent relatives living in Bladen County, North Carolina which became a base of operations for many of his travels.
William Bartram Trails Historical Markers have been placed along much of the path blazed by the naturalist. The full text of Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida, the Cherokee Country by William Bartram (Philadelphia: Printed by James & Johnson, 1791.)
In December 1985 a veterans group asked the Macon County Commissioners to have the memorial marker relocated. The town square location is also dedicated to Macon County veterans. Their opposition to the marker location was that Bartram was a pacifist due to his Quaker background.
The marker is located at the Town Square in Franklin, NC at the corner of West Main (Business U.S. 441) and Iotla (Local Highway 1323) Streets. The marker is at the street corner and faces the intersection. The Macon County Confederate Monument is a few feet away, next to the old courthouse, which is currently the Macon County Historical Museum.
The memorial marker stands on the lawn surrounded by bushes.
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