Franklin Township
Franklin is a hilly district, divided by several streams—Hog Run, Swamp Run, Little Clay Lick, and Big Clay Lick. The area possesses productive and fertile farmlands. [1]
Moundbuilders
Franklin Township once had an large number of Native American sies. With twenty-one mounds and enclosures, the township had the third greatest number of Native American sites in the county, after Newark Township and Granville Township. [2] An large "ancient fort," or an enclosure with an embankment and ditch, once stood north of the Township's only settlement, Amsterdam. Stone mounds, including a mound that was around forty feet in diameter, also dotted the local landscape. These, along with many others ancient structures, were destroyed by agricultural pursuits and development by early European settlers.
An exception to this destruction was Huffman Mound, also know as Tippet Mound, though it did not escape entirely unscathed; seventy-five feet in diameter and twenty-one feet in height, Tippet Mound is on land that was once the property of James Tippet, now a part of the Taft Reserve. The Mound was excavated in the mid-nineteenth century and burial remains and artifacts were discovered, but the mound itself suffered some collapse at the pinnacle. [3]
European Settlement
The first white settlers—George Ernst and Johan and Jacob Switzer—arrived in the township in 1805. Franklin became a township In 1812 and was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. The township remained rural, only developing one small settlement—Amsterdam—in its southwestern corner. [4]
The small village of Amsterdam sits at the southernmost line of the township border with Bowling Green and developed due to its location of the National Road. Its founding dates later than Licking County's other National Road settlements and it was not laid out until 1848 by Abraham Boring and George Barnes. [5]
Franklin county had 676 inhabitants in 1900. [6] More than one hundred years later, according to the 2010 census, the population remained small with only 760 residents.
Taft Reserve
Taft reserve is a 425-acre forested reserve near the center of Franklin Township. Located near the center of the township, the reserve is a part of Licking Park District, with two entrances and sections—Taft North and Taft South—of the reserve. There are extensive trails for hiking, biking, and horse riding, as well as the chance to see Huffman Mound and Rutledge Mound, another pre-historic site contained with the reserve. [7]
For more information see also:
Franklin Township's Official Website http://www.franklintwp-lickingco.com/
J.G.
Return to Townships and Communities main page.
References
- ↑ Hill, N., History of Licking County, 421
- ↑ Archaeological Atlas of Ohio, ed. Mills, W., (1914), 45
- ↑ Hill, N., History of Licking County, 421
- ↑ Hill, N. History of Licking County, 422
- ↑ Ohio Ghost Towns: No. 44 Licking County, ed. Helwig and Helwig, (1998), 26
- ↑ Brister, E., Centennial History, (1909). 248
- ↑ https://lickingparkdistrict.com/parks-trails/taft-reserve/
