Open Hours Changes & Special Events

Just a reminder that there will be no Open Hours during the month of June. This Saturday, June 6, is our Indoor Yard Sale, held at the Civic League building in Wanamaker (8822 Southeastern Avenue). Come by and find some great deals! The…
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Spring Cleaning? Donate Your Stuff!

The Franklin Township Historical Society is requesting donations for its upcoming “indoor yard sale,” to be held June 6th at the Franklin Township Civic League, 8822 Southeastern Ave. Proceeds from the sale will be used to help repair and maintain…
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Help preserve our Meeting House!

Our building, the former Big Run Baptist Church, was constructed in 1871 and needs continual maintenance and preservation work — from simple repairs like painting and tuckpointing, to big, expensive projects like replacing the roof, improving lot drainage, and replacing support…
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Gallery: Franklin Township Fire Department Honors

We have previously shared a bit about the township’s volunteer fire department, which was comprised of four stations. Today we present a gallery of a few of the honors they received in the years shortly before Franklin Township came under the umbrella of the…
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Postcard: New Bethel Church

During the late 19th and first half of the 20th century, postcards were an extremely popular form of communication. From purchased souvenir cards to custom photos printed on postcard-backed paper, postcards were the Instagram of their day — a quick snapshot and short message shared…
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Former Big Run Baptist Church, now FTHS Meeting House, built 1878.

Did You Know? Original Big Run Baptist Church

Did You Know? …That the first of the Big Run Baptist Church’s buildings was a frame structure, built in the fall of 1849, shortly after the church was organized in 1848? It was 28 by 40 feet, and cost $1,000….
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Did You Know? Auto Polo

Did You Know? …That Auto Polo was once a popular spectator sport, and for at least one man who later lived in Franklin Township, a sport in which he participated. The game was said to have been invented around 1912…
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John Wanamaker

Did You Know? The History of Franklin Township, Part 1

It is always a challenge, when recounting the history of an area, to know where to begin. There are long stretches of our land’s past of which we have little or no historic record, including the hundreds of years that Native Americans inhabited…
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