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HARD BARGAIN

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BEST HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD Hard Bargain

The Hard Bargain neighborhood in downtown Franklin has seen its share of changes through the years, but at its core is a similar community to the one that Harvey McLemore established in 1875.

Just ask someone who has lived there for most of her life. Johnnie Hamilton, who worked as a nurse for 30 years at Williamson Medical Center, was born and raised in the African American neighborhood and is living there again after a 10-year stint in another Franklin neighborhood.

“I was raised on Hard Bargain,” Hamilton said, “and I learned about the history as I grew up. It was a community of unity and everybody growing together. The goal of the community was to offer incentives for minorities who were working hard to be home owners, and that same concept is here today.”

McLemore, a freed slave for whom the McLemore House museum was named, subdivided the 15 acres he had purchased from Judge W.S. McLemore. He began selling lots to other freed slaves, and soon Hard Bargain became a thriving African American community.

It totals over 130 households, and there are many families in the neighborhood today whose roots go back several generations.

Hamilton’s grandparents, for instance, lived in the house at the corner of Mt. Hope and Ninth Avenue, where one of her aunts now lives.

“That was the landmark of the Patton [her maiden name] family,” she said. “That is our home place.”

Hamilton’s maternal grandparents lived on Grass Street, and the original house still stands after some renovations. Her parents’ house, where she grew up, was right across the street. Her father built the house, and its current occupants were childhood friends of Hamilton’s.

Hamilton, who lives on Green Street and raised two daughters, a son and a stepson there with her late husband, said the neighborhood has seen some changes. It used to include several Blackowned businesses such as stores, barber shops and restaurants. And she noted that gentrification has given the neighborhood a different look.

But she is also pleased to point out the elements that help to give Hard Bargain its hold on history. Johnson Elementary School, which opened during Hamilton’s first-grade year in 1958, still serves as the neighborhood school. Black churches stay active with their congregations, and historic landmarks such as the McLemore House still stand.

“Those things make me proud to be a resident of Hard Bargain,” Hamilton said.

The neighborhood includes the nonprofit Hard Bargain Association, which is overseen by resident Derrick Solomon. His wife, Marquita, is the granddaughter of the Rev. Denny Denson, one of the founders of the HBA.

Solomon said the neighborhood has become considerably more diverse in recent years.

“I think we [HBA] have done a great job to bring value and di-