It comprises the northern section of the cadastral Hundred of Wonna.

[6] A second post office, Pandappa Dam, operated in the south-east of the locality from 1 April 1883 until around 1908.

[5][9] In October 1908, a correspondent to The Chronicle in Adelaide wrote that "there used to be a lot of people living here, but [...] it is very lonely now.

"[10] In 1916, it was proposed to rename the town Wonna to avoid confusion with "Franklin", a subdivision in what is now the Adelaide suburb of Pennington, but this did not occur.

[5][11] The 1051-hectare Pandappa Conservation Park is located entirely within Franklyn.