In 1800 Pennsylvanian Guinea Lewis founded the town and named it for his home state's pre-eminent statesman and philosopher, Benjamin Franklin. Most early settlers came from the Northeast, and their strong Union sympathies saved Franklin from the destruction other towns in Louisiana suffered at the hands of the Union Army during the Civil War. On Bayou Teche in the Atchafalaya Basin, Franklin is presently a center for salt production, sugar refining and carbon-black operations. Learn More...