On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Franklin is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs put Franklin near the top nationally; its National Register listings ranks highest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin’s overall grade.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Franklin’s 1,030 sits above most of its state (96% of New York towns have fewer) while its 243 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% 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 (±7.3 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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Little is known of the area prior to the American Revolution. Areas along the waterways were occupied by bands of Lenape (Delaware) people primarily, with remnants of other tribes who had been pushed west across the Hudson by English colonial development. Hunters and fur trappers also visited the area.
After the war, speculators, often based in New York City, bought various land patents sight unseen, as they were lured by dreams of profit-taking as land was resold to settlers. Hundreds of settlers had moved into the town of Harpersfield in what is now Delaware County.
On April 10, 1792, the State Legislature passed "An Act For Dividing the Several Towns,
sentatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same. That the act, entitled "An act to repeal an act incorporating the borough of Waynesburg, in the county of Franklin, and for other purposes," passed the thirtieth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, be and the same is hereby repealed; and the act, entitled "An act to incorporate the town of Waynesburg, in the county of Franklin, into a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo counties, Iowa ... and biographies of representative citizens. History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races ..1883 · page 510Read the page →
Read the text
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
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East Franklin contains a church, store, post office and l)lacksmith shop, also the only telegraph office in town. The town has no railroad stations, although the Center is distant only four miles from North Sheldon, and South Franklin station is near the
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outskirts of the "Conococheag-ue settlement," lying just aliout three miles north by west of the present town of Greencastle, is a familiar one to every school child in Franklin county to-day. Tt is an event familiar because conmiemorated, and it stands forth in strong contrast with the other historical events far more important, but now buried in oblivion because of the indifference and, may it l)e called, lack of patriotism of a past generation. The
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, 1800 to 1917
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Franklin is among the most historic 1% 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?
Two places: the New Stone Hall (listed 1980) and the Franklin Village Historic District (1984).
How old are the homes in Franklin?
37% of Franklin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
