The laying out of Franklin Ward in 1791, concurrent with Washington and Warren wards on the eastern side of the original six-ward plan of the city, ratified the Savannah plan ward established by Oglethorpe as the incremental unit by which the city would grow until 1854. Franklin, like the east expansion wards, is narrower than the standard colonial ward due to the limited space within the West Common. Its tything blocks had only four rather than five 60 × 90-foot house lots across, reducing the east-west dimension of the ward by 120 feet. Like the other 1790s expansion wards, its name commemorates a hero of American independence: Benjamin Franklin, who had numerous ties with the Georgia colony and died in April 1790, just a month before the city council initiated plans to lay out new wards.
Writing Credits
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.