Idaho's Oldest Town
Franklin was settled April 14, 1860
by Mormon pioneers. The free local
museum exhibits a large collection
of tools and relics of pioneer days
The founding of Franklin was part of a well
organized plan of Mormon expansion. Church
authorities sent the colonists under Thomas
Smart from Provo, Utah. Men of many trades
were included in order to make the community
self-sufficient. From 1874-1877,
Franklin was the busy terminus of the
Utah Northern Railroad where
freight for the Montana mines
reloaded for the long wagon
haul north.