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,
Peaked at 3,308 in 1860; 2,288 people lived here in 2020.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Franklin’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Franklin, 1880–1914
Passages that mention Franklin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York1880Read the page →
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The first settlement in Franklin was begun by the erection of a forge and saw-mill by McLenathen & Wells, of Jay, Essex Co., in about the year 1827. This settlement was made at Franklin Falls, then known as McLenathen Falls.
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History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York1880 · page 489Read the page →
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" A most destructive conflagration occurred at the lumbering village of Franklin Falls, on the Saranac, on the 29th of May, 1852. For several days previous a fire had been burning in the neighboring woods, and on the day of the catastrophe the wind was blowing almost a hurricane, and scattering the fire in every direction, so that all attempts to control it became unavailing. On approaching the village, which was situated in a ravine, it burst from the woods upon
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History of Franklin County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement1914 · page 315Read the page →
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BRADFORD Bradford is the latest town to seek recognition as a trading point in Franklin county. It was laid out and platted November 19, 1906, by the Bradford Town Site Company, of which G. A. W. Dodge was president, and J. W. Souder, secretary.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
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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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
