Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1924 on and old-book passages.
More historic than 58% 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 58% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Franklin’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Franklin’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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.
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 town in Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,106 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Fargo, Folsom, and Liberty Pole are located in the town.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,140 to 1,106 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Franklin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
settled at the place afterward known as the "Dowhower farm," but now owned by Benjamin Williams, on section 18, township 12, in range 4 west, in the town of Franklin. Taylor located on section 30, township 12, of range 4 west, also in the town of Franklin. The place is now owned by J. C. Adkins. Mr. Taylor is not now a resident of the county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
settled at the place afterward known as the "Dowhower farm," but now owned by Benjamin Williams, on section 18, township 12, in range 4 west, in the town of Franklin. Taylor located on section .30, township 12, of range 4 west, also in the town of Franklin. The place is now owned by J. C. Adkins. Mr. Taylor is not now a resident of the county.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
James H. Layne, of Viroqua, settled in the town of Franklin, in 1854. He purchased a farm which included what was afterward the village of Brookville, which latter place he laid out and platted. He was born in Amherst Co., Va., in 1812. He removed to Kentucky, in 1828, where he resided till 1852, when he removed to Macon Co., 111. In the fall of 1853
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Among the early settlers of the town of Franklin, is Andrew J. Johnson, who resides on section 19, of town 12 north, of range 4 west, (town of Franklin), where he settled in November, 1853, on government land. Mr. Johnson was born in Albemarle Co., Va., in 1819, where he lived till seventeen years of age, when he removed with his parents, William R., 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 SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Franklin is more historic than 58% 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.
28% of Franklin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), 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.
