Franklin Historic District

Franklin Historic District. Pioneer Historic Byway. , Franklin is Idaho's oldest town. Settled in 1860 by Mormon pioneers who traveled to the vicinity of the confluence of Worm Creek and Muddy River, by year's end, 61 Latter-day Saints (LDS) families were there. The LDS laid out a fort-style village, and later built log cabins. On April 19 they met to allot the farmable land near the village. Ten-acre lots, located outside the fort, had been surveyed and were randomly awarded. The settlers planted oats, barley, and wheat, and dug irrigation ditches. In early June, Brigham Young visited the village and named it Franklin after Franklin D. Richards, a Mormon apostle. He also renamed the Muddy River the Cub River because it flowed into the Bear River. , In the typical Mormon community pattern, settlers laid out wide streets. Lots were large enough to accommodate a garden, barn, and outbuildings. Space was reserved for a central town square which today is the Franklin City Park. These early pioneers believed they were still in Utah. It was not until 1872 that an official boundary survey established the Idaho-Utah border a mile south of Franklin. , The settlement was established in response to Brigham Young's dream of a Mormon empire in the West. During this period scores of families were sent out of Salt Lake City in all directions to establish communities and settle the country. In 1862, President Lincoln sent Captain Patrick Connor and his California Volunteers to the Salt Lake Valley to ensure a U.S. military presence in this region. His assignment was two-fold: to let Brigham Young know that this was United States territory and would remain as such, and to protect the Oregon-California Trail emigrants from Indian raids.