The city of Franklin housed a library of 1,000 volumes in its City Hall before 1913. In February that year, Franklin Mayor R. M. Cole (1848-1931) applied to the Carnegie Corporation of New York for funds to build a new library. The Carnegie Corporation approved plans and granted $7,500 to the project. This brick building with classical details and a pressed-metal roof resembling tiles was designed by an architect named Patterson and completed in 1914, though it served as a library only through 1918. School classes and public activities were held here through 1984. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986