History:
The town of Franklin was founded in the spring of 1860 by Mormon pioneers moving north through the Cache Valley of Utah. Sixty-one families built small cabins along the Cub River (at that time called the Muddy River) and commenced farming.

Settlers fanned out to establish new communities in northern Cache Valley. These early pioneers believed they were still in Utah, and not until 1872 did an official boundary survey fix the Idaho-Utah border a mile south of where Franklin was established.

In a typical Utah pattern, the first settlers laid out wide streets and held a drawing to distribute town and farm lots. Town lots were large enough to accommodate a garden, barn, and outbuildings. Space was reserved for a central square -- which today is the Franklin City Park, located south of the State of Idaho properties for which the Idaho State Historical Society is responsible.