Old Franklin functioned as the administrative capital and headquarters town of Sterling C. Robertson's empresario colonization grant, the Robertson Colony, and subsequently as the first county seat of Robertson County after its creation in 1837. In this role the town housed the colony's and later the county's land office, courthouse, and related civic functions, making it the center where settlers registered land claims, recorded titles, conducted legal business, and organized local government for a large stretch of Central Texas along the Brazos River. As an administrative and market town it also supported the everyday commerce of a frontier county seat, including general stores, a post office, churches, and modest local trade serving the surrounding farms and ranches. The county seat was later relocated, ultimately to the present city of Franklin, and Old Franklin declined into a small rural crossroads community rather than continuing as an active civic center. Today Old Franklin exists as a small unincorporated community in Robertson County, its historical significance preserved chiefly through Texas Historical Commission markers describing its founding role as colony headquarters and original county seat, along with a small cemetery and scattered historic-era structures. The site now serves primarily as a place of local heritage interest and historical marker tourism rather than any ongoing administrative or commercial function.