[8][9][10] The small town became nationally famous during the 1920s due to the outstanding athletic achievements of the local high school basketball team, who became known as the Franklin Wonder Five.

A small group who had played together as boys, led by Fuzzy Vandivier and coached by Ernest "Griz" Wagner, they became the first high school team to win the state championship for three consecutive years (1920–22).

The December 2, 1940 issue of Life magazine included a photo essay by Bernard Hoffman entitled, "A Small Town's Saturday Night,"[11] depicting farmers Glen and Norris Dunn and family on a typical Saturday night in Franklin: Dad getting a hair cut, and the kids seeing a movie at the Artcraft, people at the drugstore, as well as photos of other social spots, such as Nick's Candy Kitchen and the town's "lovers' lane."

The nighttime photo showing double-parked cars and thick crowds on Jefferson Street is perhaps the best known of the set.

According to the late-20th century critic James Guimond in his book on American photography, Since "Life" wanted a perfect Saturday night, and one they considered typical, the photographer did not select a town still blighted by the Depression... What "Life's"' readers wanted, it seemed, was a stereotyped village that confirmed their nostalgic beliefs about small towns in which no one is bored, poor, or lonely; and the magazine's photographers and editors - like Norman Rockwell in his "Saturday Evening Post" covers - gave them exactly that kind of town.

Their small floodplain has been adapted as the basis of Franklin's green walkways and parks, which extend the entire length of the town.

In the June 2008 Midwest floods, all of these streams overflowed, damaging or destroying more than 100 houses throughout Franklin, including some entire neighborhoods.

Since 2008, The city of Franklin has bought many of the flood-damaged homes, and cleared them to make more green space, and expand the parks system.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

The population increased by more than 50% during the 1990s (see table at right), with new residents attracted by jobs in the community, as well as some people commuting to Indianapolis for work.

Due west of the Artcraft is the renovated former City Hall, a Colonial Revival building originally constructed in 1936 to be used as a post office.

It was the original site of a federally commissioned Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural painted by Franklin artist Jean Swiggett, who started his career during the difficult years of the Great Depression.

In the 1980s, a private non-profit group, Franklin Heritage Inc., was formed by citizens to preserve and restore its historic assets for new purposes.

It now owns the Artcraft Theatre and is making it a community center for film, art, and special events.

The Daily Journal is the local newspaper in Franklin and also covers news in all of Johnson County.

Franklin Flying Field (FAA LID: 3FK) is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of the city's central business district.

Access Johnson County provides fixed-route and demand-response bus services in the city.