Old Town Hall

The structure and function of town government was established by legislation passed in 1841. Accordingly, Franklin held its first town meeting April 5, 1842 at the home of J.C. Loomis with 37 individuals listed as voters. For the next 40-plus years, town meetings were held in private homes or public buildings. In November 1884, the township administrators decided a permanent structure was needed. They pledged $900 to build a Town Hall along Ryan Road (Hwy. 100) just west of S. 76th Street and on April 6, 1886, they began holding government activities there. In August 1956, Franklin residents went to the polls and voted to incorporate as a city. That October the City of Franklin elected its first mayor, Robert MacDonald, three aldermen and two justices of the peace.

As the population increased a fourth ward was created in 1961 and by 1970 fifth and sixth wards had been added. In 1962, Franklin was still 80 percent farmland, but the population had more than doubled over the past decade to 10,000.

The Town Hall took turns functioning as the community’s engineering department, police department and justice court until a new city administration building opened at 9229 W. Loomis Road in 1970. The Town Hall was moved to Legend Park by the Franklin Bi-Centennial Commission in 1976 and was turned over to the Franklin Historical Society to serve as its office and museum in 1980.