Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1870.
Franklin dates its founding to 1868 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
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.
Sgt. Michael Strank, a Rusyn American and one of the US Marines pictured in the photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, was raised in Franklin.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Peaked at 2,632 in 1920; 323 people lived here in 2010.
15 censuses, 1870–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Franklin’s Wikipedia page.
Passages that mention Franklin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
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purposes/' passed the thirtieth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, be and the same is hereby repealed; and the act, entitled "An act to incorporate the town of Waynesburg, in the county of Franklin, into a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.
He was a pioneer in the iron industry in Franklin county, and built and conducted what was known as "Loudon Forge.'' above the village of Fort Loudon, where he made his home. He was one of the petitioners for the new county of Franklin in 1784. and was the first justice of the peace for Peters township appointed after the erection of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
outskirts of the "Conococheague settlement," lying just about three miles north by west of the present town of Greencastle, is a familiar one to every school child in Franklin county to-day. It is an event familiar because commemorated, 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 be called, lack of patriotism of a past generation. The
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
places, till they extended from the "Long, Crooked River"* to the Maryland Province, about the year 1736. Several hundred names of the first settlers in this valley will be given when speaking of Cumberland and Franklin counties. Passing, it might be remarked, that all the earliest settlements made in Lancaster, York and Cumberland, were commenced when the Indians were still numerous ; when they, and the white settlers chased, in common, the deer, the bear, and
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveScene on the Allegheny
In the archiveWoodwork, checkerboard table for Y.M.C.A2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. 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 · +15Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1868, according to Wikidata. the census of 1870 counted 426 people here.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1905
2013
2013
2013
