History

In the early 1930's, Franklin had no public library, but it did have an unused old one room school house. The Franklin Womens' Club came up with the great idea of turning the old schoolhouse into a library to be run by, who else, the Franklin Womens' Club. So, the good ladies went back to their homes and told their only half listening husbands about their plan, accidentally omitting just one little part. The half listening husbands, after grunting their acceptance, were then informed, "But of course we're going to have to move the school house. from the corner of the Macomber Mill Road and the Georges Pond Road to the center of town.

Thinking in desperation, the men of the town quickly pointed out that what the women wanted was impossible - the Georges Pond Road was too narrow near the junction with the Blackswoods Road to allow the building to pass. Well, of course, they ended up constructing a new road. The map above is from the U. S. Geodetic Survey of 1932. If you look just to the left of the center of the map, you can see Bayview Cemetery and both the old and new Georges Pond Roads. (Webmaster's note: Some of the above history is a visualization.)

The Library began operation in 1934 and is now in its 68th year. The beautiful cabinets and stained glass windows were donated by Neva and Altia Austin of Hancock who were the owners of "Austin Castle