Get an ADT-Monitored Home Security System in Frankfort, Indiana

Frankfort is a city in Clinton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 16,422 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Clinton County.

Brothers John, William and Nicholas Pence, previously of Warren County, Ohio, settled upon the land on which Frankfort now stands in 1829, having entered it from the organization in 1827 and 1828. In 1830, the brothers donated 60 acres (240,000 m) of the land to the county commissioners, a donation which led to the inauguration of the county chair at that site rather than in Jefferson, a community which had along with been vying for the honor. The other town was named Frankfort at the brothers’ request and honors their German great-grandparents’ home of Frankfurt am Main.

The town of Frankfort was laid off upon the 60-acre (240,000 m) tract by William Douglass, the county agent, and the plat filed upon June 8, 1830. The native plat consisted of 64 lots in eight blocks surrounding a public square where the courthouse now stands. The county board paid contractors Allen & Michael the total of $20 to erect the first courthouse, a 1+1⁄2-story performing structure made of logs hewn from trees that grew upon the square and surrounding streets. Its replacement was built by contractor John Elder in 1837 and 1838 for $12,000 and operated for 45 years. Indianapolis architect George W. Bunting in 1881 intended the third courthouse, a 165-foot (50 m) tall structure built of Indiana limestone by contractors Farman & Pearce for approximately $200,000. Its cornerstone was laid September 2, 1882.