In 1663 the uplands and meadows of this area, part of the Norwich “nine miles square” acquired from the Mohegan Indian chief Uncas and known as West Farms, were divided among certain occupants of the town plot of Norwich, and settlement began soon after. In 1716 the West Farms parish was organized, and two years later construction of a meeting house began on one of its rolling hills. Over the highways now Route 32 and Lebanon Road, livestock and produce from this and up-country towns reached the busy ports of Norwich and New London. West Farms separated completely from Norwich in 1786, becoming the incorporated town of Franklin and taking its name from Benjamin Franklin. Remaining rural in nature, the town has no distinct village center, with its population distributed rather evenly over its hills and vales.