Franklin

Formed September 9, 1784 (14^th county)

Franklin County (155,950), Chambersburg (21,897)

The columns stand out in the 1865 Greek Revival building.  The facility is on Lincoln Way at Central Avenue.  Lincoln Way is United States Highway 30.  S. Hutton designed this red brick structure.  The building was enlarged in 1902.  An Annex Building was added in 1979.  A Judicial Center and an Administration Building are planned for 2021.  The county was established on September 9, 1784 from a part of Cumberland County as the 14^th county with Chambersburg as the only county seat.  Franklin County is named for American Statesman Benjamin Franklin.  He is also the namesake of the county seat of Venango County.  The county seat is named for settler Benjamin Chambers.  Franklin County is the birthplace of 1 Pennsylvania governor, William Findlay. 

Franklin County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, and a clerk (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five Common Pleas Court Judges and Seven Magistrate Court Judges serve Franklin and Fulton counties (judicial.)  The county is on the southern border with Maryland.  Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is northeast and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is northwest of the county.  The county center is 4 miles South of Chambersburg nearer New Franklin.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Juniata, Perry, Cumberland, and Adams counties and Maryland and Fulton and Huntingdon counties. 

The area of the county is 771 square miles.  It is 27 out of 67 in the state.  It ranks 23 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 202.3 persons per square mile making it 25 out of 67 in the state.  Franklin County has 26.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 76 crosses the northern part of the county east to west from Cumberland County to Huntingdon County.  Interstate Highway 81 enters from Cumberland County, east, and exits into Maryland, south.  United States Highway 11 parallels Interstate Highway 81 from Cumberland County to Maryland.  United States Highway 30 comes from Adams County, southeast, and goes to Fulton County, west.  James Buchanan, the 15^th President, was born in this county.  The county looks like a teepee.  Chambersburg is located in the eastern third of the county.  Chambersburg is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 14.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Chambersburg Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Shippensburg