FRANKLIN, a city of north-western Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Tom. N. by E. of Pittsburgh, at the confluence of French creek with the Allegheny river; the county seat of Venango county. It is on Federal highway 322, and is served by the Erie, the New York Central and the Pennsylvania railways and by motorbus lines in every direction. The population was 9,97o in 1920 and 10,254 in 1930. Including the suburbs of Rocky Grove and Prospect park, the local estimate for 1928 was 15,0oo. Franklin is picturesquely situated among the foot-hills of the Alleghenies, at an altitude varying from 985 to 1,500 feet. It is in the chief oil and gas region of the State, and its refineries have a daily capacity of 12,000 barrels. Other important manufactures are oil-well supplies, gagger irons, mine-car loaders, portable cranes, brake beams, gas and oil engines, pneumatic tools, castings (grey iron, brass and bronze), silica sand, paints and printing. The aggregate value of these products in 1927 was estimated at At Polk, 6m. S.W., is the State school for the feeble minded (established 1897), with 2,225 inmates and grounds cover ing 2,054 acres.
There was an Indian village here about 1735. In 1749 the French took possession of the region, burying leaden plates at various points in token of their claim, and in they built Fort Machault, on a site in the heart of the present city, which they abandoned and burned after the capture of Fort Duquesne by the British in The British in 1760 built Fort Venango, near by. This was taken by the Indians in 1763, during the Con spiracy of Pontiac, and the entire garrison was massacred. Venango county and the surrounding territory was purchased by the State from the Six Nations in 1784. In 1787 Fort Franklin was built by American soldiers, about Im. above the mouth of French creek. It was abandoned in 1796 for a stronger fortification, known as "Old Garrison," and in 1803 the troops were permanently with drawn. The importance of the site as a frontier station led to the establishment of a town in by act of the State legislature, which named it in honour of Benjamin Franklin. It was platted the same year by Andrew Ellicott, the surveyor of Washington, D.C. ; was incorporated as a borough in 1823, and as a city in 1868. Oil was discovered 3om. N. in 1859, and soon became the basis of the region's prosperity. The peak of production in Venango county was in 1882, when the output was 30,460,000 bbl. from 3,269 wells. In recent years the annual output of the county has been about 1,300,000 barrels.