Pendleton County was divided from parts of August, Hardy, and Rockingham Counties (Virginia) by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1787. The earliest court sessions in the new county were held at the home of Captain Zeruiah Stratton near the present-day village of Ruddle until Francis Evick offered a part of his land to become a county seat around 1789. Additional lots were divided off of Evick's land to form the new town. On December 19, 1794, the Virginia General Assembly chartered the town of Franklin and recognized it as the seat of Pendleton County. Franklin grew steadily over the first half of the 19th century, becoming a local center of commerce and industry. In 1834, there were two stores, two tanneries, three saddlers, two carpenters, two shoemakers, two blacksmiths, one gunsmith, one tailor, one hat-maker, and one cabinet-maker listed among the town's residents.