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B+History
History · Franklin

Franklin’s post office opened in 1838, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Franklin was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Its Register listings are the Robertson County Courthouse and Jail and the Franklin Carnegie Library. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1880.

1838first post office
2on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Franklin began

When was Franklin founded?

1838

The Franklin post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 311 in 18802020 census: 1,614188 years

How historic is Franklin?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Franklin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Franklin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Franklin is more historic than 74% 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’s overall grade.
Founding era1838, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19407.8% of homes (±4.3) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 19.6 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Franklin’s 19.6 sits above most of its state (90% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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’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 are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1899 to 1916, drew every building in Franklin.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Franklin.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Franklin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Franklin’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
Every building

Franklin, building by building, 1899–1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Franklin fire insurance map, 1899, sheet 11899Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Franklin, 1838 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Franklin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912Born hereFred C. Cole is born here
  5. 1914BuiltFranklin Carnegie Library is built
  6. 1923Born hereJoseph L. Reid is born here
  7. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1953Born hereJohnny Perkins is born here
The story so far

Franklin, in brief

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

Franklin is a city in, and the county seat of, Robertson County, Texas, United States. It is within the Brazos Valley, on the cusp of the East and Central Texas regions. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,614. The original name of the town was Morgan and it was made county seat in 1879.

Its first post office opened in 1838. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,564 to 1,614 (+3%).

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

By decade

Franklin, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Low-end EF3 damage Franklin, TX 2019 (2)2019Low-end EF3 damage Franklin, TX 2019 (2)Low-end EF3 damage Franklin, TX 2019 (1)2019Low-end EF3 damage Franklin, TX 2019 (1)Glimpse of downtown Franklin, TX IMG 22792011Glimpse of downtown Franklin, TX IMG 2279Franklin, TX sign IMG 22782011Franklin, TX sign IMG 2278TXMap-doton-Franklin2004TXMap-doton-FranklinFranklin, TX, City Hall IMG 22772001Franklin, TX, City Hall IMG 2277
On the map

Franklin on the map, 1927 to 1982

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

Franklin on the 1927 USGS mapFranklin on the 1930 USGS mapFranklin on the 1965 USGS mapFranklin on the 1982 USGS map1927Marquez 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.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Franklin

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Robertson County Courthouse and Jail
Robertson County Courthouse and JailFranklin Carnegie Library, built 1914
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Second Empire1
Italian Renaissance1
Robertson County Courthouse and JailSecond Empire
Franklin Carnegie LibraryItalian Renaissance · Built 1914

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Franklin, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800188019001920194019601980200020201,614

Grew from 311 people in 1880 to 1,614 in 2020, 5 times over.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Franklin’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Franklin

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Johnny PerkinsAmerican football player · b. 1953
Joseph L. ReidAmerican oceanographer · b. 1923
F
Fred C. ColeAmerican librarian · b. 1912

Questions about Franklin’s history

What year was Franklin founded?

The Franklin post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Franklin rank for history?

Franklin is more historic than 74% 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?

Two places: the Robertson County Courthouse and Jail (listed 1977) and the Franklin Carnegie Library (2005).

How old are the homes in Franklin?

8% of Franklin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1984.

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), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.