The story
Read it all →How Franklin Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Franklin Township.
Darlington Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Franklin Township
33% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Darlington Covered Bridge. Below: maps from 1984 on.
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Franklin Township’s history
How historic is Franklin Township?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 82% 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 82% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraWithout a firm founding date for Franklin Township, this grade rests on its old homes and Register listings–Homes built before 194032.5% of homes (±9.2) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 5.3 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
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 5.3 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±9.2 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.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 in 1984
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Franklin Township.
1984Lafayette sheet · 1:100,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Franklin Township.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Franklin Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Darlington Covered Bridge
Structures
Architectural styles listings
Howe Truss1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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
Old corners and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
DarlingtonDarlington Woods
1cemetery inside Franklin Township
Greenlawn
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 82% 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.
What is on the National Register in Franklin Township?
One place: the Darlington Covered Bridge (listed 1990).
How old are the homes in Franklin Township?
33% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.2 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.