Franklin celebrates centennial

By Mark J. Yablonsky
FRANKLIN — Despite gray and ominous clouds, Franklin celebrated its 100th anniversary Saturday at the gazebo park at Franklin Pond.

Replete with dignitaries, guest speakers and bands, the "Model Mining Town of the East" enjoyed a special one-hour ceremony commemorating the 100-year anniversary of Franklin Borough's autonomy as a separate town.

"We all took pride in our town," said Sussex County Freeholder Philip Crabb, who remembered growing up in Franklin in the early 1960s when the sum of $3 dollars could fill up an entire gas tank and when the town still had numerous mom-and-pop stores lining Main St. "And though things changed over time, you can still see a lot of that pride in Franklin today."

The event took place exactly 100 years to the day when Franklin, having been granted autonomy from neighboring Hardyston two months earlier by the state legislature, began functioning as the Borough of Franklin, and no longer as the Franlin Furnace section of Hardyston. With Judy Williams, the president of the borough's historical society, acting as master of ceremonies, Franklin looked back at its legendary past and also eyed the future.

"We are a diverse and hard-working town," said borough councilman Nick Giordano. "What was built in the past is all around us, and our actions must dictate that our future must be bright. We may have lost our factories, our hospital and our neighborhood house, but we are all still here. I ask that all of us try to make a difference: be proud because it's your home."

With better than 200 people looking on, the raindrops remained light and did not threaten the ceremony that had been planned months earlier. State Assemblywoman Allison Littell-McHose (R-24), whose family has served and represented Franklin statewide for a large portion of the past, remembered her great-grandfather, Watson Littell, who served on the town's first council in 1913; her grandfather Alfred Littell, who was a borough councilman in the 1920s and much later a state senator and acting governor; and her father, retired Sen. Robert Littell, who spent 40 years in Trenton, first as an assemblyman and then as a state senator before leaving office Jan. 1, 2008 when Steve Oroho (R-24) began serving. Oroho presented Mayor Paul Crowley with a joint senate and assembly-sponsored commemorative certificate.

Previous mayors were also commemorated, including Ed Allen (2001-03) who was on hand. Afterward, councilman Gilbert Snyder, whose uncle Raymond Hyde served as borough as mayor in the 1940s, offered a special wish from his 98-year-old uncle, who resides today in South Carolina.

Local historian Dr. Bill Truran noted how the zinc taken from the mines beneath many years ago went on to benefit people, both locally and nation-wide.

The Franklin school chorus pitched in with a rendition of Phil Phillips' "Home," and the school band also played a few numbers. U.S. Congressman E. Scott Garret (R-5), who could not be present, offered a letter and congressional certificate congratulating Franklin on its 100th birthday.

Later this year, the borough's historical society is planning to hold a special community dinner on behalf of the anniversary.