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History · Franklin Township

29% of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1898 on.

0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
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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.On the map since 18983 editions of the USGS map, 1898 to 1985. Watch Franklin Township change.Old housesHalf of Franklin Township’s homes were built before 1954.
★ 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.
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On the map

Franklin Township on the map, 1898 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 1898 USGS mapFranklin Township on the 1973 USGS mapFranklin Township on the 1985 USGS map1898Huron sheet · 1:125,000

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.

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.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 52 to 64 (+23%).

Timeline

Franklin Township, 1883 to 1898

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Starkey post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Starkey post office closes
  4. 1898On 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.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

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

Gone or out of use
Hessdorfer School Number 5schoolNewman School Number 4schoolStark School Number 1schoolStarkeylocale

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.

Woonsocket TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlaine Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAlpena TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWessington Springs TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Franklin Township’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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.