At first glance, the Franklin Gem and Mineral Museum may seem like a hokey tourist attraction, but visitors willing to give it a closer look will discover the largest inventory of gems in the Southeast.

When Macon County residents joined together in 1971 to raise money to buy Angel Hospital and make it a community hospital, the effort was dubbed Operation Heartbeat.

At some point in the future, here’s something you might never hear again: “I was born in Franklin.”

Look no further than this Macon County town if you want stare right in the face of the agonizing state of the health care crisis in this country. Due strictly to bottom-line concerns, officials who run Angel Medical Center say come July the hospital will no longer deliver babies. Too expensive, too much of a losing proposition.

Along with the announcement to stop labor and delivery services at Angel Medical Center, Mission Health also announced plans to build a new, state-of-the-art $43 million hospital for the Franklin community.

Mainspring Conservation Trust has several cleanup projects in the works that once completed will transform East Franklin for the better.

“What’s an alderman?” is a common question town officials hear when trying to explain what they do to members of the public.

With safety concerns at the forefront, a project to significantly alter U.S. 441 through Franklin has been ranked as the top priority by Macon County officials and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. 

The term alderman is defined as a member of a city legislative body, but it literally translates as “old man” in old English.

Every year before budget time, the Franklin Board of Aldermen likes to get together and figure out what the town’s priorities should be for the coming year.

Franklin’s town board has been hearing different proposals for improving Main Street’s parking and appearance — and the latest proposal included turning it into a one-lane thoroughfare.