Footprints of Franklin

An Old Fashioned Christmas

Experience the sights, sounds and smells of the holiday season as the Franklin Historical Society presents its annual Christmas celebration in Lions Legend Park. Children are invited to the Whelan School on Saturday, December 1 in preparation for the Christmas festivities. There they will make ornaments, decorate the school tree…

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A Call to Duty – A History of the Franklin Police Department

As Franklin changed from a township to a city in 1956, changes in its police department were also occurring. What was a quiet rural farming community now became a city of subdivisions, businesses and increased services. Along with that progress came the realization that the citizens of Franklin needed an…

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Living in the 1950’s “Franklin Style”

Franklin in the 1950’s still retained its rural landscape and its people were very self-sufficient. There was very little commercial development and its businesses centered around farm equipment stores, local general stores, gas stations and taverns. This is in contrast to the Franklin of today where families have easy access…

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Flying into Franklin: The City’s Aviation History

As a rural town and then a city, Franklin was fortunate enough to have two small airports within its boundaries and to have been the original home of the EAA –Experimental Aircraft Association — museum and international headquarters. It was after World War II that Franklin became the home of…

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A History of the “Free Thinkers” in Franklin

Many people are curious about the quaint old building that sits nestled in a grove of spruce trees off the corner of Ryan Rd. and 27th Street. The community surrounding that crossroad was known years ago as Painesville. It was on the border of Franklin and Oak Creek and settled…

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Time Goes By Along “Old Loomis Road”

Businesses at intersections of major transportation routes, as in Franklin, were very common and used often by passing motorists. The area of 76th St. and Loomis Rd. was no exception. What residents of Franklin know today as the corner of 76th St. and Old Loomis Rd. was once a vibrant…

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