The Franklin Historical Museum is a center for community engagement, committed to facilitating the exploration of Franklin through a local, regional, and national lens, to a multigenerational audience.
Franklin was first settled by Europeans in 1660 and was officially incorporated during the American Revolution. The town was formed from the western part of the town of Wrentham on February 16, 1778; its designated name at incorporation was to be Exeter. However, the town chose to be called Franklin in honor of the statesman Benjamin Franklin, the first municipality in the United States to be so named.[3] In response to receipt of the honor, Dr. Franklin donated 116 volumes to form what is called "America's First Public Library". The collection is currently on display at the library.[4] The city is also home to the birth place of America's father of public education, Horace Mann. Franklin is home to what may be the nation's oldest continuously operational one-room school house (Croydon, NH's school dates to 1780, but there is debate as to whether it is truly "one room"). The Red Brick School was started in 1792 and the building was constructed in 1833[5] and was operational until 2008. St. Mary's Catholic church, located in central Franklin and built by Matthew Sullivan, is the largest Catholic parish in the Boston Archdiocese with some 15,000 members.
