1961 - Franklin Elementary School Franklin Elementary was first erected in 1888, at 218 North 14th Street. This was only 18 years after Allentown expanded it's western boundary from 12th to 17th Streets. Originally, it was a four-room neighborhood school, but in 1894 an addition was added to it, which doubled the capacity to eight classrooms. In 1906, a second addition was added, increasing the number of classrooms to twelve. However, by the mid-1960's the cost of maintaining the 75+ year old structure was growing higher and higher. In 1966, the Allentown School Board voted to close the school, and the last graduating class left Franklin on June 16th, 1967.