The story
Read it all →How Franklin Township came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Franklin Township.
Franklin Township was organized in 1828. It is named for Benjamin Franklin.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Nyttend · Public domainB−History
History · Franklin Township
1 of Franklin Township’s places is on the National Register
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Wickerham Inn. Most of Franklin Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1916 on and old-book passages.
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
About Franklin Township’s history
How historic is Franklin Township?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 54% 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 54% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Franklin Township’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19408.3% of homes (±10.0) · typical OH town 14.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 8.7 per 10,000 residents · typical OH town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Franklin Township’s 8.7 sits above most of its state (72% of Ohio 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 (±10.0 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.
Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Franklin Township, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Franklin Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1974. Watch Franklin Township change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Locustgrove
Jaybird
Beaverpond
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bacon FlatBeaver PondGroomsJaybirdLocust GrovePine GapSmoky Corners
Gone or out of use
Adams QuarrymineBacon Flat SchoolschoolBeaverpond Post Officepost officeConaway SchoolschoolEdendale SchoolschoolHilderbran SchoolschoolJaybird Post Officepost officeLocustgrove Post Officepost officeLocustgrove Post Officepost officeMineral Springs StationlocalePalestine SchoolschoolPleasant Valley SchoolschoolSmoky Corners Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Franklin Township
JaybirdLocust GroveNewman
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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.On the map
Franklin Township on the map, 1916 to 1974
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Franklin Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Peebles sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Franklin Township.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Franklin Township in 1900
Passages that mention Franklin Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth ..1900 · page 413Read the page →
Read the text
This township lies in the central north part of the county bordering Highland. It was organized by the Board of County Commissioners, September 4, 1877, from territory cut off the west side of Franklin Township and was named in honor of John Bratton, an old and respected citizen of the township.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth ..1900 · page 65Read the page →
Read the text
The last contest between any considerable number of whites and Indians in the Virginia Military District took place on the waters of the north fork of Scioto Brush Creek in the northern part of Adams County, and within the present limits of Franklin Township. The site is about two an one-half miles northeast of the village of Locust Grove, on lands recently owned by the widow of John Moomaw. The place is on the dividing ridge between the headwaters of the north fork of Scioto Brush Creek and the tributaries of east fork of Ohio Brush
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 Township, 1833 to 1934
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1833Post officeThe Locustgrove post office opens
- 1881Post officeThe Jaybird post office opens
- 1883Post officeThe Beaverpond post office opens
- 20th century
- 1916
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1920Post officeThe Locustgrove post office closes
- 1931Post officeThe Jaybird post office closes
- 1934Post officeThe Beaverpond post office closes
By decade
Franklin Township, decade by decade
2015
2013
2013
2012
2012
2012On 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
1979
Wickerham Inn
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Federal1
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.
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 54% 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 Wickerham Inn (listed 1979).
How old are the homes in Franklin Township?
8% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.0 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.