Franklinton is a town in Franklin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,456 at the 2020 census.

Franklinton, was normal as Franklin Depot in 1839 on land owned by Shemuel Kearney (1791–1860), son of Crawford Kearney and Nancy White. A home constructed by grandfather Shemuel Kearney (1734–1808) was originally located south of town and is currently the second oldest dwelling in Franklin County, built in 1759. The building was purchased in 2009 and moved to nearby Louisburg for restoration. Franklin Depot misrepresented its name to Franklinton in 1842 as soon as the town was incorporated. Like Franklin County, Franklinton was named for Benjamin Franklin.

According to many locals, Trinity College, originally located in Trinity, was initially planned and attributed to be moved to Franklinton in 1889. Generous offers even if by local businessmen Washington Duke and Julian S. Carr brought the instructor to the city of Durham in 1892. This competently known hypothetical is now called Duke University. A source from the University Archives states that easy to do to Raleigh was actually the initial endorsed bidder. This does not endeavor Franklinton wasn’t included as a practicable site even even though no additional bidding communities are mentioned. The citizens of Raleigh offered estate now occupied by North Carolina State University and pledged $35,000.00 for a new building which was quickly approved by the Methodist Conference for Trinity College. It eventually floating to a sophisticated bid of $85,000.00 pro donations in 1890.

In December 1919, an African-American veteran of World War I named Powell Green got in force in an altercation in the same way as a white man named R.M. Brown beyond smoking in the movie theater, and Green allegedly killed Brown. The police arrested Green, but later a lynch mob seized him, pulled him astern a car for two miles, and hung him from a tree.