Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #61 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 226 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
Franklin dates its founding to 1876 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Franklin is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #61 of 253 in Virginia. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Franklin’s 286 sits above most of its state (83% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 236 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Franklin.
The city of Franklin had its beginnings in the 1830s as a railroad stop along the Blackwater River. During this era, the river was used to transport goods to and from Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Franklin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of Maine in Legislature assembled, • The undersigned inhabitants of the town of Industry, in the County of Franklin, respectfully represent that so much of the territory of the town of Industry, adjoining the town of New Sharon in said County, as is embraced in the following description, containing an entire school district, ought to be set off from the town of Industry and annexed to the town of New Sharon. (Here followed a description of the bounds
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He was the projector and builder of the suspension bridges at Strong and Kingfield, in Franklin County. At the last mentioned place the following incident is related in regard to the newly-completed bridge. The sway of the bridge when completed caused many people unacquainted with such structures to question its safety. To show his own confidence in the permanency and strength of the structure, Mr. Beede, in the presence of a large company of people, drove his horse across the bridge and back at full speed, and was heartily cheered on his return
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
As the shire town of Franklin and the centre of a wide farming region we had many important gatherings in early days, but they were political conventions of both parties, with speeches out-of-doors, or regimental " musters" for the country towns before the middle of the century, were very military.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1894, March 4. Samuel J. Lyons died, aged 82. He was a brother of the late Joel Lyons, and well known in Franklin county, where he had been the leading insurance agent for forty years. He was secretary of the Franklin County Agricultural Society for several years. He was trustworthy and reliable in his business aflfairs and a companionable man.
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.
In the archiveVirginia BattleField map JEAF extract
Born hereColgate Darden is born here
In the archiveBirds eye view of Franklin, Southampton Co., Virginia 1907
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRichard Hudson is born here
In the archiveFEMA - 158 - Photograph by Liz Roll taken on 09-24-1999 in Virginia3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 · +15Between 477 and 8,582 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Franklin’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1876, according to Wikidata. the census of 1880 counted 477 people here.
Franklin is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #61 of 253 in Virginia. 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.
4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Elms, The (listed 1982, the first), 1 historic district, the Franklin Historic District, with 226 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 236 historic buildings in all.
13% of Franklin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1967.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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