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B−History
History · Franklin Township

25% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1943 on.

0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Franklin Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Franklin Township’s history

How historic is Franklin Township?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
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 52% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 194024.5% of homes (±9.8) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%A−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder

Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Franklin Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±9.8 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.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Franklin Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · 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
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewScene on the Allegheny: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Kissimmee, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Paxtonville
1871–today
Kissimmee
1900–1905
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Coon HunterKissimmeePaxtonville
1cemetery inside Franklin Township
Boyer Mennonite Church

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Franklin Township, in brief

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

Franklin Township is a township in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,204 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,259 to 2,213 (-2%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Franklin Township, 1871 to 1943

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Paxtonville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Kissimmee post office opens
  5. 1905In the archiveScene on the Allegheny
  6. 1905Post officeThe Kissimmee post office closes
  7. 1918In the archiveWoodwork, checkerboard table for Y.M.C.A
  8. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Franklin Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s3 items
Scene on the Allegheny1905Scene on the AlleghenyA.G. Egbert Memorial Fountain in City Park1905A.G. Egbert Memorial Fountain in City ParkWoodwork, checkerboard table for Y.M.C.A1918Woodwork, checkerboard table for Y.M.C.A
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
US 522 nb entering Middlecreek Twp., Snyder Co., PA, June 20242024US 522 nb entering Middlecreek Twp., Snyder Co., PA, …US 522 nb entering Middleburg, PA, June 20242024US 522 nb entering Middleburg, PA, June 2024US 522 nb entering Franklin Twp., Snyder Co., PA from Beaver Twp., June 20242024US 522 nb entering Franklin Twp., Snyder Co., PA from…2021-10-28 11 17 38 View north along Pennsylvania State Route 104 (North Main Street) at New Berlin Highway in Franklin…20212021-10-28 11 17 38 View north along Pennsylvania Sta…USPO Paxtonville, PA 178612016USPO Paxtonville, PA 17861Farmhaus Lane Franklin TWP, Snyder Co PA2016Farmhaus Lane Franklin TWP, Snyder Co PA
On the map

Franklin Township on the map, 1943 to 1973

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

Franklin Township on the 1943 USGS mapFranklin Township on the 1953 USGS mapFranklin Township on the 1965 USGS mapFranklin Township on the 1973 USGS map1943Mifflinburg sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Scene on the Allegheny
Retake this viewScene on the Allegheny, 1905

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Franklin Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Franklin Township

Nobody well known was born in Franklin Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
C
Cummings C. ChesneyAmerican electrical engineer · b. 1863
Charles Marley AndersonAmerican politician · b. 1845
Jacob S. Coxey Sr.American mayor · b. 1854
Laird Howard BarberAmerican politician · b. 1848
Lewis MerrillUnion Army general · b. 1834
L
Lillian Estelle Fisher20th-century American historian and author · b. 1891
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Center TownshipIts storyBMiddlecreek TownshipIts storyC+Washington TownshipIts storyC+West Perry TownshipIts storyBPerry Township2 historic placesA−

Questions about Franklin Township’s history

How does Franklin Township rank for history?

Franklin Township is more historic than 52% 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.

How old are the homes in Franklin Township?

25% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1974.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.