July 13, 2026
The Story Behind The Pond: How One Backyard Koi Pond Inspired a Franklin Tradition
Long before The Pond became one of Franklin's favorite neighborhood bars, it was exactly what the name suggests—a pond in our backyard.
Back when my family lived on Third Avenue North in downtown Franklin, we built a koi pond and landscaped the backyard into a place where friends naturally gathered. People would stop by after work, share a cigar, enjoy a glass of wine, and spend hours talking. Nobody wanted to leave.
It wasn't fancy. It wasn't planned. It simply became a place where people felt comfortable.
That backyard became the inspiration for everything The Pond would eventually become.
Opening The Pond in Franklin
In 2005, my son Justin and I opened The Pond in Independence Square Shopping Center. At the time, Franklin had plenty of restaurants, but very few places where you could grab a cold beer, listen to live music, and stay late without driving to Nashville.
The building we purchased needed far more work than we expected. We stripped it down, rebuilt it, and slowly transformed it into the neighborhood bar we had imagined.
From the beginning, our goal wasn't to build the trendiest bar in town.
It was to build the kind of place where everyone felt welcome.
Building a Neighborhood Instead of Just a Bar
Over the years, The Pond has grown into much more than a place to grab a drink.
We've hosted thousands of karaoke nights, live bands, watch parties, birthday celebrations, first dates, reunions, and countless evenings where one drink turned into hours spent with friends.
Regulars became family, and new customers quickly became regulars.
That neighborhood atmosphere has always been more important than being flashy.
The Tap Handle Collection
One thing guests notice immediately is the ceiling.
When we first opened, only a few hundred beer tap handles hung overhead.
Today, that collection has grown to 1,385 unique beer tap handles with no duplicates, earning recognition as a World Record collection and becoming one of the most photographed features inside The Pond.
Every handle tells a story, just like every customer who walks through our doors.
Nearly Two Decades Later
Franklin has changed tremendously since 2005.
There are more restaurants, more bars, and far more live music than when we first opened.
We're proud to have been part of that growth while staying true to what inspired us from the beginning—a place where people can relax, laugh, watch a game, hear great music, and enjoy being around friends.
The Pond was never meant to be just another bar.
It was built to feel like home.