Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1890.
The Franklin post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Franklin’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Franklin.
Franklin was platted in 1882. The city was named for Benjamin Franklin.
The 1862 Battle of Redwood Ferry took place just outside what would later become the town of Franklin.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Franklin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The Franklin Lutheran Cemetery is located in the southwest corner of section 8, in Camp township. The school house is located in the extreme southwest corner of the section, and north of the school grounds is the cemetery. The cemetery is controlled by the Norwegian Lutheran church of Franklin and was laid out in the winter of 1867.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Otto Erickson, well known as a leading banker of Franklin, was born in the village of Franklin. September 12, 1876. His father, Zaeharias Erickson, a native of Finland, came to America in 1872, and bought forty acres in section 3, Bandon township, Renville county. At the age of seventy-five he has now retired from farming and is living in Franklin. His wife, Susanna (Sauvolainen) Erickson, came with her husband to America in 1872 and is now seventy-two years of age. Mr. Erickson attended
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFt. Ridgely and Dale Lutheran Church, Franklin, Minnesota - DPLA - c46b75bec5e4007e491dca…
In the archiveJohn Bergley's house, Franklin, Minnesota - DPLA - 08564876f42772dd5ea5d43c5e42399e
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Franklin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Franklin.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Franklin’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 284 and 557 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Franklin’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Franklin itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Franklin post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (13), 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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