Franklin County (Massachusetts)
The Franklin County is a county located in the state of Massachusetts in the United States. The administrative headquarters ( County Seat) is Greenfield. After the abolition of county government in 1997, the County exists only as a historical geographic region and serves some administrative purposes.
Government
As a small majority of counties in Massachusetts has the Franklin County today no County government more. All previous tasks of the county were taken over by state authorities in 1997. The sheriff and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform tasks within the county. The communities now have greater autonomy and can conclude regional treaties in order to offer services together.
See also: League of Women Voters page on the County's
Geography
The county has an area of 1877 square kilometers, of which 59 square kilometers are water surface. It is bordered clockwise to the following counties: Windham County ( Vermont), Cheshire County ( New Hampshire), Worcester County, Hampshire County and Berkshire County.
History
The Franklin County was formed in 1811 from parts of Hampshire County.
Demographics
Demography
According to the census in 2000 lived in Franklin County 71,535 inhabitants in 29,466 households and 18,416 families. The population was made up of 95.40 percent White, 0.89 percent African American, 1.04 percent Asian, and 0.29 percent Native American. 1.99 percent of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The per capita income was 20 672 U.S. dollars; 6.5 percent of families and 9.4 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.
Cities and Towns
- Ashfield
- Bernardston
- Buckland
- Charlemont
- Colrain
- Conway
- Deerfield
- Erving
- Gill
- Greenfield
- Hawley
- Heath
- Leverett
- Leyden
- Monroe
- Montague
- New Salem
- Northfield
- Orange
- Rowe
- Shelburne
- Shutesbury
- Sunderland
- Warwick
- Wendell
- Whately