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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Franklin County, New York.
Official Website
In 1808, Franklin County was split off from Clinton County and organized. It was named after United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. In the early decades many landowners basically were subsistence farmers.
In the late 1880s and 1890s, both the Delaware and Hudson and New York Central railroads were constructed into the Town of Franklin. The Chateaugay branch of the Delaware and Hudson served the hamlet of Onchiota, which developed for the lumber industry. For more than 12 years, a major tract north of Saranac Lake was harvested and millions of feet of timber were shipped out from here.
The railroads carried the timber and products to market, and the industry flourished into the early 20th century until much of the timber was harvested. Several lumber mills operated in this area for decades, including Kinsley Lumber Company, Baker Brothers Lumber Company, and one owned by the Dock and Coal Company. The latter mill was dismantled in 1917 and shipped to Florida to be used in the lumber industry there. The population declined as the lumber industry pulled out of the area.
The railroads also contributed to the Town of Franklin becoming a destination for summer travelers. In the late 1800s, Franklin County was home to three of the largest resort hotels in the Adirondacks: Paul Smith's Hotel, Loon Lake House, and Rainbow Inn. Due to the construction of highways and restructuring in the railroad industry, passenger service was ended to this remote area in the mid-20th century.
Ray Fadden (Mohawk), with his wife Christine and son John, was the founder and curator of the Six Nations Indian Museum located in Onchiota, a census-designated place in the Town of Franklin. He built the structure from logs he had milled himself. The family-owned museum features more than 3,000 artifacts primarily from the Iroquoian nations, and interprets their culture. They were a prominent confederacy in New York of Six Nations by 1722, and they controlled much of the state west of colonial settlements at Albany and Schenectady.
Within the border of the county is the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, or Akwesasne in the Mohawk language. The people are linked by community and history with the Mohawk of the Akwesasne reserve across the river, spanning the border of Quebec and Ontario. The Mohawk have had authority under the Jay Treaty to freely cross this international border.
Adjacent Counties & Provinces
- Clinton County
- Essex County
- Hamilton County
- Province of Québec
- St. Lawrence County
- Province of Ontario
Towns
- Bangor
- Bellmont
- Bombay
- Brandon
- Brighton
- Burke
- Chateaugay
- Constable
- Dickinson
- Duane
- Fort Covington
- Franklin
- Harrietstown
- Malone (County Seat)
- Moira
- Santa Clara
- Tupper Lake
- Waverly
- Westville
Other Villages, Hamlets & Communities: Akwesasne (part), Brushton, Gabriels, Goldsmith, Hogansburg, Keese Mill, Lake Clear, Loon Lake, Paul Smiths, Reynoldston, Saint Regis, St. Regis Falls, St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, Saranac Lake, Skerry, Upper St. Regis and Vermontville
Links
National Register of Historic Places
