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1893 Map of Franklin

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of Franklin
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1893
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1893

About this map

Industrial nodes and small farming hamlets define this late nineteenth-century landscape along the Massachusetts and Rhode Island border. The Charles River winds through the central terrain, powering local development at City Mills and Rockville. The area is a dense web of late-Victorian rail infrastructure, including the Woonsocket Division and the Franklin Branch, which connected interior towns like Bellingham and Medway to larger regional hubs.

Genealogists will find interest in the distinct village clusters of the era, from the mill-oriented Mechanicsville to the rural Burnt Swamp Corner at the state line. The topography is marked by numerous family-named landmarks and water bodies, such as Uncas Pond, Joes Rock, and the Rocky Woods. These labels reflect a period before modern suburban expansion, when the economy was tied to local water power and the burgeoning railroad network that served Franklin and Holliston.