The mission of the Franklin Historical Society is to seek to preserve and foster appreciation of local history and to maintain living museums for educational and community enrichment.
Upcoming Events 2024
Upcoming Franklin Historical Society’s Open Houses
Franklin Historical Society’s new Lunch n’ Learn Program will be held on Wednesday October 16 and November 20 the third Wednesdays of the month. Come with a lunch at noon and the learning program will begin at 12:30. The purpose of the program is to come to our Town Hall Museum building in Lions Legend Park and join with other Franklin folks who are interested in local history. Contact Barbara Pforr at bap4@earthlink.net.
Franklin Historical Society’s annual Fall Fest Saturday, October 19 noon to 4 p.m. Freeze princesses will be there for picture taking from 1 to 3. They will be giving out free pumpkins while the supply lasts. In addition you can watch many crafters doing demonstrations of their skills along with school games and lessons and the model train display.
Franklin Historical Society’s annual Christmas Program Saturday , December 7. The program will start with our Children’s program in the Whalen School House at 3 to 3:45 p.m. Our two St. Peters Chapel Services will be at 4
p.m. & 5:30. All of our historic buildings will be open for touring from 4 to 7 p.m. Our Town Hall Museum will have music and some treats to celebrate the Christmas spirit.
Liberty Tree Dedication Service
The Franklin Historical Society hosted a dedication ceremony for the planting of a Liberty Tree in our historic village of buildings. This is the first step for the City of Franklin to honor the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independent in 2026. This includes a bronze plaque of Benjamin Franklin in front of city hall.
The Liberty Tree (1646–1775) was a famous elm tree that stood in Boston, Massachusetts near Boston Common in the years before the American Revolution. In 1765, Patriots in Boston staged the first act of defiance against the British government at the tree. The tree became a rallying point for the growing resistance to the rule of Britain over the American colonies, and the ground surrounding it became known as Liberty Hall.
Great Lakes Model A Ford Club Tour
Christmas Program 2023
The Franklin Historical Society’s 2023 Christmas program Saturday December 2nd was a great success! We had three St. Peters Chapel Services, a special children’s program in the Whelan School, live music and refreshments in the Town Hall and our Sheehan/Godsell Cabin and the Franklin Barn Museum were open for touring.
Fall Fest in Franklin October 2023
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Vietnam Veterans Program – 2022
Saturday April 30, the Franklin Historical Society hosted a “Vietnam Retrospective” program developed by Doug Schmidt and the Franklin Historical Society at the Franklin Public Library. We had a great turnout of guests. They were greeted by songs of the Vietnam era Doug had set up. He also had over 100 pictures that rotated during his presentation of the history of the Vietnam War from its earliest beginnings to the withdrawal and the politics involved.
Historic District
The Franklin Historical Society’s village of buildings has been land marked in 2018 as a “Historic District” by the Milwaukee County Historical Society.Pictured below is our new General Store display in the Old Town Hall.
