Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Franklin

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Franklin

56% of Franklin’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1948 on.

0on the National Register
56%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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.Old housesHalf of Franklin’s homes were built before 1938.
★ 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.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Franklin, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Franklin yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 290 to 253 (-13%).

By decade

Franklin, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2020-05-27 14 57 18 View north along Maryland State Route 36 (New Georges Creek Road) at Maryland State Route 937 (Cree…20202020-05-27 14 57 18 View north along Maryland State R…2016-06-18 14 51 45 View south along Maryland State Route 937 (Creek Side Drive) just south of Maryland State Route 36 …20162016-06-18 14 51 45 View south along Maryland State R…
On the map

Franklin on the map, 1948 to 1981

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

Franklin on the 1948 USGS mapFranklin on the 1952 USGS mapFranklin on the 1961 USGS mapFranklin on the 1981 USGS map1948Cumberland sheet · 1:250,000

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Westernport1 historic placeA+

Questions about Franklin’s history

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 (2), 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.