The Franklin Academy occupied this site from 1881 until 1922. It was one of six Congregational Church-affiliated academies in Nebraska. Others were located at Crete, York, Neligh, Weeping Water, and Chadron. Over 2,500 students in college…

Present Franklin County was formerly a part of the buffalo hunting range of the Pawnee Indians, whose villages were at one time located further down the valley of the Republican River. Cheyenne and Sioux hunting parties also frequented the area…