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History · Franklin Township

Franklin Township’s post office opened in 1887, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1968 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Franklin Township began

When was Franklin Township founded?

1887

The Franklin Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Franklin (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 315139 years
Founding year: the first Franklin Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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 writtenNo old photos of Franklin Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1943.
★ 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
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
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.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 307 to 315 (+3%).

Timeline

Franklin Township, 1887 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Franklin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe Franklin post office closes
  5. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Franklin Township on the map, 1968 to 1985

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 1968 USGS mapFranklin Township on the 1985 USGS map1968Lake Madison sheet · 1:24,000

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.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
FranklinRustic Acres Colony
Gone or out of use
Chesterlocale
1cemetery inside Franklin Township
Franklin

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Chester TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake View TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOrland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBuffalo Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Franklin Township’s history

What year was Franklin Township founded?

The Franklin Township post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.