Franklin

With Franklin, a new photographic history of the town and

its people, well-known local historian and columnist

James C. Johnston Jr. presents a sensitive retrospective of his

hometown. Buildings, people, documents, modes of transportation,

and all aspects of life as it once was are illustrated vividly in

Mr. Johnston’s fascinating collection of images from the past.

In the 1660s the first European settlers came to Franklin, which

was originally inhabited by the Wampanoag Indians. The town was

named for Benjamin Franklin, in a somewhat successful attempt to

flatter the famous and influential American statesman. A gift of books

sent to the town by Mr. Franklin formed the basis for the very first

public library in the United States.

A well-read and inventive community, Franklin has been home to

a number of influential Americans itself, including Horace Mann, the

Father of American Education. Mr. Johnston’s pictorial history of

Franklin honors the memory of these great citizens and also chronicles

the development of the town through its industrial revolution.