Franklin Township, Warren County, Ohio

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Franklin Township, one of eleven in Warren County, Ohio, is in the northwest corner of the county. It is the most populous township in the county, the 2000 census finding 27,294 people there, down from 27,510 in 1990. It is named for Benjamin Franklin and is one of the twenty-two Franklin Townships in Ohio.

Franklin Township is bounded on the south by Turtlecreek Township, on the west by the Butler County townships of Lemon and Madison, on the north by the Montgomery County townships of German and Miami; and on the east by Clearcreek Township.

One of the original four townships of Warren County, it was created on May 10, 1803 when the county was just nine days old. At that time, it was much larger. On August 5, 1804, the southern part was transferred to the newly created Turtlecreek Township. On September 11, 1815, the eastern part was transferred to the newly created Clearcreek Township. The original western boundary was the Great Miami River, but Clinton County proved a continuing headache to the legislature and forced adjustments to Warren County. The Ohio Constitution requires that every county have an area of at least four hundred square miles and Clinton County's boundaries were several times adjusted in an effort to comply with that clause of the constitution. One of them, the Act of January 30, 1815, detached a strip of land from the eastern side of Warren County to give to Clinton. That would have left Warren under four hundred square miles, so a portion of Butler County (the part of Franklin Township where Carlisle is now located) was attached to Warren in compensation. The 1815 act was as follows:

• Section 1--That all that part of the county of Butler lying and being within the first and second fractional townships in the fifth range, and adjoining the south line of Montgomery County, shall be and the same is hereby attached to and made part of the county of Warren.
• Section 2--That eleven square miles of the territory of the county of Warren and extending parallel to the said eastern boundary of Warren County, along the whole length of such eastern boundary from north to south, shall be and the same is hereby attached to and made a part of the county of Clinton."

The township is governed by a three-member board of trustees, who are elected in November of odd-numbered years to a four-year term beginning on the following January 1. Two are elected in the year after the presidential election and one is elected in the year before it. There is also an elected township clerk, who serves a four-year term beginning on April 1 of the year after the election, which is held in November of the year before the presidential election. Vacancies in the clerkship or on the board of trustees are filled by the remaining trustees.

A large part of the township is in the cities of Franklin and Carlisle, but parts are in the cities of Middletown and Springboro. In November 2004, the people of Franklin Township and the City of Franklin voted on a committee to study merging the two communities. The Board of Elections improperly failed to submit the question to the voters in the township, but the vote in the city was against the merger.

Other communities in the township are Hunter, Blue Ball, and Chatauqua.

Most of the township is in the Franklin City and Carlisle City School Districts, but parts are in the Springboro City and Middletown City School Districts. Telephone service is provided through the Franklin, Middletown, Miamisburg, Centerville, and Germantown exchanges, while mail is provided through the Franklin, Carlisle, and Middletown post offices.

Interstate 75 runs through the township, as do State Routes 122 and 73. The Miami and Erie Canal formerly ran through the township.

[edit] References

• Elva R. Adams. Warren County Revisited. [Lebanon, Ohio]: Warren County Historical Society, 1989.
• Robert Brenner. Maineville, Ohio, History: 100 Years as an Incorporated Town, 1850-1950. Cincinnati: John S. Swift, 1950.
• The Centennial Atlas of Warren County, Ohio. Lebanon, Ohio: The Centennial Atlas Association, 1903.
• Mabel Eldridge and Dudley Bryant. Franklin in the Great Miami Valley. Edited by Harriet E. Foley. Franklin, Ohio: Franklin Area Historical Society, 1982.
• Harriet E. Foley, editor. Carlisle: The Jersey Settlement in Ohio, 1800-1990. 2nd ed. [Carlisle, Ohio?]: The Editor, 1990.
• Josiah Morrow. The History of Warren County, Ohio. Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1883. (Reprinted several times)
• Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. 6th ed. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme, 2001. ISBN 0-89933-281-1
• William E. Smith. History of Southwestern Ohio: The Miami Valleys. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1964. 3 vols.
• Rose Marie Springman. Around Mason, Ohio: A Story. [Mason, Ohio?]: The Author, 1982.
• Warren County Engineer's Office. Official Highway Map 2003. Lebanon, Ohio: The Office, 2003.

	Warren County, Ohio Lebanon, county seat
Municipalities	Blanchester | Butlerville | Carlisle | Corwin | Franklin | Harveysburg | Lebanon | Loveland | Maineville | Mason | Middletown | Monroe | Morrow | Pleasant Plain | Springboro | South Lebanon | Waynesville
Townships	Clearcreek | Deerfield | Franklin | Hamilton | Harlan | Massie | Salem | Turtlecreek | Union | Washington | Wayne
Other localities	Beedles Station | Blue Ball | Cozaddale | Crosswick | Dallasburg | Dodds | Five Points | Fosters | Greentree Corner | Hagemans Crossing | Hammel | Hillcrest | Hopkinsville | Hunter | Kings Mills | Landen | Loveland Park | Mathers Mill | Middletown Junction | Murdoch | Oregonia | Red Lion | Ridgeville | Twenty Mile Stand | Zoar