Formed June 24, 1811 (13th county)
Franklin County (71,035), Greenfield (17,763)
A 1932 red brick building is the Neo-Classical courthouse for Franklin County. There were 1814, 1849, 1873 courthouses earlier, all in Greenfield, the only county seat. The current courthouse is on Main Street at Hope Street. United States Highway 5 is one block to the west of the site. The courthouse was enlarged in 2015 with a Justice Center. Frank King and Bernard Dirks are the architects. There is an augmenting courthouse in Orange. The county was created on June 24, 1811 from Hampshire County as the 13th county. The county is named for American statesman Benjamin Franklin. The county seat is named for the Green River.
Franklin County doesn’t have a unified government as each township governs. Two District Court Judges and Five Probate/Juvenile Court Judges serve Franklin County. The county is in the northwest part of Massachusetts. Boston, Massachusetts is east and Albany, New York is west of the county. The county center is 2.9 miles East-Northeast of Greenfield in Turners Falls. The county is surrounded clockwise by Vermont and New Hampshire and Worcester, Hampshire, and Berkshire counties.
The area of the county is 702 square miles. It is 4 out of 14 in the state. It ranks 12 out of 14 in population in the state. It has a density of 101.2 persons per square mile making it 14 out of 14 in the state. Franklin County has 25.0% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 91 crosses the county north to south from Vermont to Hampshire County. United States Highway 5 parallels Interstate Highway 91 from Vermont to Hampshire County. United States Highway 202 enters from the east, Worcester County, and exits to the south, Hampshire County. The county is shaped like the number 9 with its top cut off. Greenfield is located near the center of the county. Greenfield is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 25.0% of the county population. This county is in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Greenfield
