(A) The human history of the county is important to land use because of the cultural values of its first Mormon settlers, the division of the land and resources, and the continued closeness of the community to this heritage.
(B) On April 14, 1860, 13 pioneer families arrived to settle the northern end of the Cache Valley, at which time the community of Franklin was established and is now designated as the first permanent settlement in the State of Idaho. One of the first projects was the building of an irrigation system to distribute water from Spring Creek. As more settlers arrived, the land and water was divided and communities were established as follows: Oxford 1864, Clifton 1865, Weston 1865, Preston 1866, Dayton 1867, Whitney 1869, Fairview 1869, Mink Creek 1872, Mapleton 1874, Nashville 1875, Treasureton 1875, Riverdale 1875, Dunnville 1876 (abandoned in 1878 and resettled later as Banida), Battle Creek 1877, Glendale 1884, Winder 1890, and Banida 1906.
(C) On February 15, 1872 an official survey conducted by the Department of the Interior placed these settlers, not in Utah territory as they believed, but residents of the territory of Idaho. The official county was named Oneida and extended from the Utah line north to Montana, east to Wyoming and west beyond American Falls, with the county seat first located in Soda Springs and later moved to Malad.
(D) It was not until January 1913 that Franklin County was officially established with an eventual total land area of 425,880 acres or 670.1 square miles. The City of Preston was officially established as the county seat.
(Ord. 2007-8-13B, passed 8-13-2007; Ord. 2022-2-28, passed 2-28-2022)