The story
Read it all →How Franklin Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Franklin Township.
Franklin Township was organized in 1837, making it the oldest township in DeKalb County.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Franklin Township
19% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1958 on and old-book passages.
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Franklin Township’s history
How historic is Franklin Township?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Franklin Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Franklin Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194019.4% of homes (±8.7) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IN town 7.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Franklin Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.7 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Franklin Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Franklin Township’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Franklin Township’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Franklin Township in 1885
Passages that mention Franklin Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of DeKalb County, Indiana1885Read the page →
Read the text
There were no bridges, and the mud made the roads almost impassable the greater part of the way. He bought eighty acres of heavily timbered land in Franklin Township, and after getting it to a state of cultivation bought 192 acres more, making one of the best farms in the township. He followed agricultural pursuits, and also dealt extensively in stock, selling to the Government from the time of the war till 1877. In 1S70 he built a residence in Waterloo, and is now living a quiet life, en-
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 Township, 1850 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Franklin Township on the map, 1958 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Franklin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Butler West sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Franklin Township.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Franklin Township
Nobody well known was born in Franklin Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Another post office, Taylor's Corners, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Taylor Corner
1cemetery inside Franklin Township
Rude
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Franklin Township’s history
How does Franklin Township rank for history?
Franklin Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Franklin Township?
19% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1982.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.