Franklin Springs Celebrates Centennial Saturday Evening with Community Event

The City of Franklin Springs is celebrating its Centennial this weekend with a community event behind City Hall.

The event takes place Saturday evening from 6p to 9p and will include a host of fun activities for the family, including food trucks, train rides, and a water slide for the kiddos.

There will also be arts and craft vendors and a Car show hosted by Cleveland Auto Parts.

Topping off the evening will be a performance by Austin Irby, one of the top 10 Elvis tribute artists in the world.

**Concert will be moved indoors to the Emmanuel University Athletic Center should it rain**

The City of Franklin Springs has been celebrating its historic milestone Centennial all this year beginning with a monthly drawing for its water/sewer customers.

On Monday, a special City Council meeting was held in commemoration of the same day the City was chartered 100 years ago – July 22, 1924.

During the meeting, Mayor Lee Moore honored many special citizens and employees who have been part of the history of the town and the City council and government with a commemorative medallion and a copy of the history of the town.

In the 1800’s Franklin Springs was a popular travel spot with its beneficial mineral, sulfur, and freestone springs.

By 1890 Franklin Springs’ had two hotels, a skating rink, two pavilions, and about 15 private residences on about 87 acres.

The reputation of Franklin Springs as a health resort spread and people from all around Georgia and throughout the South came to dip into the springs and derive benefits from its health-giving waters.

According to HMdb.org, the nationally famous Methodist evangelist Lorenzo Dow spoke to large crowds under the trees of Franklin Springs in 1802 and 1803. On February 22, 1803, the subject of his sermon was The Trinity where he spoke using three large tree branches as an illustration.

On March 1, 1918, that site was purchased by the Pentecostal Benevolent Association consisting of G.O. Gaines, Perry Sexton, Hugh Bowling, Josiah Allen, John W. Jordan, and Joseph C. Sorrow.

It became the home of Franklin Springs Institute and was later renamed Emmanuel College.

Last year, the college was renamed Emmanuel University.

Franklin Springs’ Community Centennial Celebration takes place Saturday evening from 6p to 9p behind City Hall and is free.