The Black Diamond Historical Society will offer tours of the ghost town of Franklin at noon on Saturday, Feb. 4 and Sunday, March 4.

The tour group will meet at the Black Diamond Historical Museum, located at 32627 Railroad Ave., Black Diamond. The tour will leave at 1 p.m. in a caravan style and drive about three miles to Franklin, which is located by the Green River Gorge.

There is a suggested donation of $5 for adults. Seniors, veterans and children under the age of 12 are free.

Don Mason, the “mayor” of Franklin, stated he intends to emphasize several historical events and themes for this year’s tour.

Formed in 1886, Franklin was a coal mining town of about 1,000 people. The diverse population consisted of immigrants from Wales, Italy, Slovenia, and Sweden.

But one of the most interesting ethnic groups in Franklin were African Americans who were hired by the coal company in 1891 to break a union strike.

When the black miners arrived in Franklin they were greeted by company men who handed them all firearms and told that there were violent Indians in the region. They went to the mines where fences had been placed around it to keep the striking miners out.

A conflict occurred as a result in July, in which two men were killed, and the National Guard had to be brought in to restore order.

Yet, the racial tensions settled quickly afterwards, according to Mason.

“There was some friction, but it wasn’t company sponsored, it wasn’t union sponsored. It was individuals,” he said.

Mason added that there was no racial segregation in Franklin while there was in most cities in America at the time.

“No where else in America would you find black kids going to school with white kids,” he said. “It’s just something. The company provided a doctor. There wasn’t a black doctor and a white doctor. Just a doctor. When the strike ended they kept all the blacks. They didn’t fire them.”

The other issue Mason plans to discuss more is the opportunities the immigrants had when they came to Franklin.

“Immigrants coming to America came here for opportunities,” he explained. “As a farmer in Italy or Slovenia, there was no opportunities for advancement. In Franklin, they made enough money to buy a home, to buy property, send their kids to school. They weren’t hungry. They had opportunity for advancement. When we were interviewing the people who had grown up in Franklin, it came up every time.”

The Reporter published a two-part series on Franklin in May 2011.

Part I: The History of Franklin

Part II: Franklin the ghost town