
Franklin County is a county located in the Blue Ridge foothills of Virginia in the state's Piedmont region, with Rocky Mount serving as its capital. It was founded in 1785 by post-American Revolutionary War settlers, and it was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. The Piedmont and backcountry areas were largely settled by Scots-Irish immigrants, as well as migrants from coastal areas and free African-Americans. During Prohibition, Franklin County became the "Moonshine Capital of the World", and, by the 1920s, 99 out of every 100 Franklin County residents were involved in moonshining and bootlegging (among them the Bondurant brothers). In 1935, 34 Franklin County residents were tried for the "Great Moonshine Conspiracy", and, while 31 were convicted, most served light jail sentences, while 13 conspirators were sentenced to probation. In 2018, Franklin County had a population of 56,195 people, with 88.95% being white, 9.35% black, 1.21% Hispanic, .71% multiracial, .36% Asian, and .19% Native American. Franklin County was a strongly Republican county. At the 2016 presidential election, 68.8% of voters backed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, while 26.9% backed the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and 2.2% the Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. In the 2018 US Senate election in Virginia, 67% of voters voted for the Republican candidate Corey Stewart and 31.6% for the Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine.