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History · Franklin

Franklin dates to 1840, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1860.

1840founded

1on the National Register

16%homes built before 1940

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Photo: Billwhittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0

Quick answers

How Franklin began

When was Franklin founded?

1840

Franklin dates its founding to 1840 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 449 in 18602020 census: 131186 years

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1843.The full story ↓

What stands out about Franklin’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Franklin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 628 in 1870; 131 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Franklin’s homes were built before 1954.Deep rootsEstablished in 1840: 186 years of Franklin.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Franklin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Franklin’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

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People over time

Franklin, census by census

Peaked at 628 in 1870; 131 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Franklin’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Franklin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Franklin.

Read it all →

Franklin (formerly Franklin Centre) was populated in the late 1830s by farmers like Alexander Cruickshank and German immigrants Henry and Jacob Abel. The first schoolhouse would be built on the Cruickshank farm in 1839. The town was laid out on March 21, 1840, by James L. Scott and Samuel C. Reed. They intended the town to be the county seat of Lee County, though never served as such. The city's namesake is Benjamin Franklin. In 1841 John Gandy and Jesse H. Catting were elected to be justices of the peace. In 1842 the first church in Franklin was constructed by the Methodists. Franklin’s growth was aided due to being positioned on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Franklin, 1883–1914

Passages that mention Franklin, cut from the printed page as they were published.

This old town, however, in 1875, had one of the finest school houses in Franklin county. Reeve township was one of the three original townships of the county, being organized in 1855. In 1880, Franklin county being sub-divided into congressional townships. Reeve comprised township 91, range 20, and… — **History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo counties, Iowa ..**1883 · page 510Read the page →
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This old town, however, in 1875, had one of the finest school houses in Franklin county. Reeve township was one of the three original townships of the county, being organized in 1855. In 1880, Franklin county being sub-divided into congressional townships. Reeve comprised township 91, range 20, and was bounded
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

**History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement**1914 · page 315Read the page →
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BRADFORD Bradford is the latest town to seek recognition as a trading point in Franklin county. It was laid out and platted November 19, 1906, by the Bradford Town Site Company, of which G. A. W. Dodge was president, and J. W. Souder, secretary.
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of Iowa since about 1855, when he came to Scott county, and located about twelve miles from Davenport, which was his home until he came to Franklin county, in 1876. He bought a farm in the township of West Fork, which he has rented since the fall of 1882, when he took up his residence at Hansell st… — **History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo counties, Iowa ..**1883 · page 440Read the page →
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of Iowa since about 1855, when he came to Scott county, and located about twelve miles from Davenport, which was his home until he came to Franklin county, in 1876. He bought a farm in the township of West Fork, which he has rented since the fall of 1882, when he took up his residence at Hansell station. Mr. Hamilton
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

of purpose of Judge Reeve, who desired to see fair play, and the untiring energy and aptitude of M. M. Trumbull. Judge Reeve entered the following; order in accordance with the vote: "April 15, 1856. At an election held in Franklin County, Iowa, on the 7th day of April, 1856, in pursuance of an ord… — **History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement**1914 · page 121Read the page →
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of purpose of Judge Reeve, who desired to see fair play, and the untiring energy and aptitude of M. M. Trumbull. Judge Reeve entered the following; order in accordance with the vote: "April 15, 1856. At an election held in Franklin County, Iowa, on the 7th day of April, 1856, in pursuance of an order made by the county judge that a vote be taken on the question of removing the county seat from its present location to the proposed town of Benjamin, and it appearing from the whole number of votes cast,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Franklin, 1840 to 1968

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1840
FoundingFranklin is established
1843Post officeThe Franklin Centre post office opens
1870CensusPopulation peaks at 628
1883Post officeThe Franklin Centre post office closes
1883Post officeThe Franklin post office opens
20th century
1920Post officeThe Franklin post office closes
1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

Franklin, decade by decade

Today3 recent

2021FranklinIowaPopPlot

2008Franklin iowa

2004IAMap-doton-Franklin

On the map

Franklin on the map, 1968 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Franklin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1968Donnellson sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Franklin.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Franklin

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1996

Christian and Katharina Herschler House, Barn a…

Districts

Architectural styles listings

Mid-19th Century1

All 1 listings

Christian and Katharina Herschler House, Barn and Outbuildings Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Franklin had its own post office from 1883 to 1920. Another post office, Franklin Centre, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Franklin Centre

1843–1883

Franklin

1883–1920

18401930today

Gone or out of use

Franklin Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Franklin’s history

What year was Franklin founded?

In 1840, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Franklin’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1860 counted 449 people here.

What is on the National Register in Franklin?

One place: the Christian and Katharina Herschler House, Barn and Outbuildings Historic District (listed 1996).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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