FRANKLIN, MASSACHUSETTS

The 'Town of Franklin' is a city^[1] in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 29,560 at the 2000 census.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Theme Song

Education

Points of interest

Notable residents

References

External links

History

Franklin was first settled by Europeans in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1778.
The Franklin Public Library is the nation's first lending library. In 1778, when the town was incorporated, the designated name Exeter was changed to Franklin in honor of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. When asked to donate a bell, Franklin responded with an offer of books for the city's residents, acknowledging that 'sense' was preferable to 'sound.' The original Franklin collection is still housed in a bookcase in the library. The Town is also home to the birth place of America's father of public education, Horace Mann. Franklin is also home to the nation's oldest continuously operational one-room school house in the nation. The Red Brick School was built in 1792 and is operational to this day. St. Mary's Catholic church, located in central Franklin, is the largest Catholic parish in the Boston Archdiocese with some 15,000 members.

Geography

Franklin is located at (42.089104, -71.406909).
According to the United States Census Bureau the city has a total area of 70.0 km² (27.0 mi²). 69.3 km² (26.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.7 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (1.00%) is water.
Most of Franklin lies within the Charles River watershed. Principal streams include Mine Brook, Shepard's Brook, Miller Brook, Uncas Brook, Dix Brook and Miscoe Brook. Much of the marshland along Mine Brook has been permanently protected by the Natural Valley Storage Project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The extreme southwest corner of Franklin is part of the Blackstone River watershed.
Significant public forests and parks include the Franklin State Forest, off Grove Street, and the Franklin Town Forest, off Summer Street.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 29,560 people, 10,152 households, and 7,877 families residing in the city.
The population density was 426.8/km² (1,105.4/mi²). There were 10,327 housing units at an average density of 149.1/km² (386.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.95% White, 1.08% African American, 0.15% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population.
There were 10,152 households out of which 44.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.4% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.4% were non-families. 18.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.29.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.3% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 35.1% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $71,174, and the median income for a family was $81,826. Males had a median income of $58,888 versus $36,557 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,849. About 2.2% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.8% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.
Dean College of Franklin, Massachusetts is also located in the city. The city is represented in the Massachusetts General Court by Representative Jim Vallee and Senators Scott Brown and Karen Spilka.

Theme Song

The Town of Franklin has its very own theme song composed by town resident and music teacher James H. Barrett [1]. Entitled "The City Known as the Town of Franklin", the song reflects the many unique characteristics of Franklin. The lyrics discuss the nation's first lending library, the oldest running one-room schoolhouse, and the birthplace of the "Father of Public Education", Horace Mann. The song's lyrics and an audio clip can be found here.

Education

Franklin consists of six public elementary schools, three public middle schools, and two high schools.
The elementary schools are John F. Kennedy Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary School, Oak Street Elementary School, Gerald M. Parmenter Elementary School, Helen Keller Elementary School, and Davis Thayer Elementary School.
The middle schools are Annie Sullivan Middle School, Remington Middle School, and Horace Mann Middle School.
Franklin High School, is home of the Panthers, Franklin's mascot. Franklin is also home to the Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Points of interest

The Franklin Public Library is an excellent place to begin exploring Franklin. It is a lovely old building with granite and marble staircases, frescoed walls in the reading room and houses the original books donated by Benjamin Franklin. Across the street from the library is Dean College, with a gothic architecture and a historic old gymnasium.
In downtown there are a series of restaurants and bars. The streets along Union Street used to be painted red, white, and green to reflect the extensive Italian heritage in the town. The Zeotrope was an old fashioned movie theater that was a trademark of Franklin lore until it was torn down.
The Franklin School for the Performing Arts is an anchor in downtown - catering to over 1,000 students in dance, singing, musical training, and theater. Their Electric Youth troupe tours Europe every other year and Ayla Brown, of American Idol fame, was a student here.
The town also contains remnants of it's industrial revolution background. Until recently, abandoned mills existed along the railroad tracks. Recently, one old mill building was turned into residential condos and a nearby building consists of a variety of multiple use commercial businesses.
There are several old houses in Franklin dating back to the 1700's.

Notable residents

★ Peter Laviolette, 20th and 21st century American hockey player and coach, grew up in Franklin

★ Horace Mann, 18th and 19th century American educator, was born in Franklin

★ Josh Miller, 20th and 21st century American football player, resides in Franklin

★ Asante Samuel, 20th and 21st century American football player, resides in Franklin

★ Vince Wilfork, 20th and 21st century American football player, resides in Franklin

★ Ilario Zannino, 20th century American mobster, resided in Franklin

★ Kevin Lemanowicz, Fox 25 Meteorologist.

★ Bob Ward, Fox 25 Personality/ Newsanchor.

★ Robert Pirelli, Green Beret war hero who died in Iraq (August 2007)

References

1.

External links

★ Town of Franklin official website

★ "The City Known as the Town of Franklin" Theme Song