--A link with the past
--A resource for today
--Stewards of tomorrow

This site was prepared by Alan R. Earls for the Franklin Cultural Council with the support of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Franklin’s diverse landscape, which includes considerable land suitable for agriculture, has abundantly supported its human inhabitants over the years. While we know little of how the Native Americans lived in Franklin, archaeologists and historians tell us that the tribes of the region gathered many crops still familiar to us including cranberries, grapes, and a wide range of squash varieties.

The Wadsworth Diaries, by George M. Wadsworth (compiled, transcribed and annotated by Gail Lembo) available elsewhere on the Franklin Web site, record the rhythm of daily farm life in town from the late 1850s until nearly the dawn of the 20th century – by which time Franklin had been much changed by the advent of a local manufacturing industry and the establishment of Dean Academy (now Dean College). In just one harvest season – 1857 – the diaries give evidence of a wide range of agricultural pursuits. For example:

SATURDAY, Aug. 8 --Pleasant but looked like a storm. Mowed & got in the oats...WEDNESDAY, August 12 -- Very Pleasant & warm.... Cut Savins in the pasture [Savins is the juniper bush, the leaves of which yield an oil used to treatment of rheumatism]WEDNESDAY SEPT 2 -- Dug a fiew potatoes&c. SATURDAY, SEPT. 5 -- Pleasant & warm. Picked a fiew apples. Helped load 1 car of oak lumber & 1 car of Chestnut at Bald Hill. MONDAY, SEPT. 7 -- Dug my potatoes in the corner piece pulled beans & c. Joseph went to Mr. Thaynes. They began to rake cranberries THURSDAY, SEPT. 24 -- Shelled corn, 4 ½ Bushels. Went a Graping with Joseph on forge hill road FRIDAY, SEPT. 25 -- Helped Father dig Potatoes front of Barn THURSDAY, OCT. 1 1857 --Dug Mrs. Wrights potatoes & helped Father sort some & c & c. In the fournoon, Mr. Swan helped Herman kill his hog THURSDAY OCT. 22 1857 -- Father & I went to husking the corn on the Pherson lot...Pulled the beets.

Although agriculture continued to decline in importance locally through the 19th and 20th century, as recently as the early 1980s, some farmers continued to produce chickens and hundreds of acres of land were actively used for agriculture.

Since that time, of course, the town’s population has rocketed and large tracts of farm land have been converted to subdivisions, shopping malls, or to industrial use. The town’s remaining farmers -- and those in neighboring communities – provide a link to earlier ways of life in Franklin. They also provide an alternative source of fresh farm products, honey, and even Christmas trees.

When farmers are able to maintain these active businesses, they can afford to keep their land open and undeveloped. Support for local farmers, then, provides a win-win. The community benefits by retaining open space and attractive vistas, consumers benefit from fresh alternatives and the farmers and their families benefit by earning money from their traditional pursuits.