Franklin was settled on April 14, 1860, by Mormon pioneers as part of a well organized plan of Mormon expansion. Church authorities sent the colonists under Thomas Smart from Provo, Utah, and men of many trades were included to make the community self-sufficient. From 1874 to 1877, Franklin was the busy terminus of the Utah Northern Railroad, where freight for the Montana mines was reloaded for the long wagon haul north. The free local museum exhibits a large collection of tools and relics of pioneer days.