Franklin, Kansas


Franklin is an unincorporated community in Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 375. Franklin is located along U.S. Route 69 south of Arma, or north of Frontenac. Franklin has a post office with ZIP code 66735.

History

Franklin began as a mining community in the early 1900s. It is located just off Highway 69 Bypass which is a major corridor between Kansas City and Pittsburg, Ks./Joplin, Mo. Franklin was a shipping point on the Joplin & Pittsburg electric railroad. The first post office in Franklin was established in 1908.
On May 4, 2003, a high-end F4 tornado ripped through Franklin, the path reached over wide at points. Franklin was all but destroyed, the U.S. Post Office, community center, and approximately 1/3 of family homes were destroyed. Four deaths and approximately 20 injuries were reported.

Area attractions

Miners Hall Museum

Opened on May 1, 2012, the was established to preserve and present authentic materials and artifacts that document the history of coal mining and its impact on Southeast Kansas. One exhibit is of the "Amazon Army", a 1921 protest in which thousands of wives, daughters, mothers, sisters and sweethearts of striking coal miners halted work in the mines for three days.

Franklin Sidewalk

Constructed in 1936 with federal funding assistance, the Franklin Sidewalk connects two rural mining communities in Crawford County - Arma and Franklin. The 3-foot wide sidewalk begins at the south edge of Arma and stretches south 1.7 miles to the south edge of Franklin. It has become well known as the "longest sidewalk connecting two communities". It runs adjacent to Business 69 Highway also known as "Jefferson Highway" and the "". The Franklin Sidewalk appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records in the 1950s or 1960s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior March 16, 2007 and on the Kansas Register of Historic Places November 18, 2006.

Notable people