Cemeteries in Lawrence are nearing capacity, but Franklin Cemetery will someday soon start accepting burials — more than 100 years after the last person was buried there.
The town of Franklin was located about 4 miles southeast of Lawrence in 1853. It disappeared after the Civil War, but the cemetery remained in use until around 1914, according to county documents.
Now the cemetery site is surrounded on all four sides by land that is within Lawrence’s easternmost city limits. Around 20 gravestones remain there.
It’s on land just north of East 23rd Street, with the Hershey’s Salty Snacks factory to its west and the East Hills Construction and Innovation Lab for advanced KU architecture students to its east, at 1668 North 1400 Road.
“Current efforts are being made to now prepare the property for burials once again,” according to documents provided to the commission. “A Cemetery Committee has been established, and software is being used to map out the existing property for its full potential.”
Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday approved a site plan for the first two phases of the cemetery.
The cemetery will need a driveway entrance from Venture Park Drive, and it will have parking that is accessible under Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
There are also plans to construct a columbarium, a monument, a flagpole and a shed for grounds maintenance equipment. There will be no outdoor trash area, according to the site plan.
Commissioners approved the site plan with a 5-0 vote. The project will require the Lawrence City Commission to approve a permit for temporary use of the right of way for construction.
Commission approves letter to federal delegation
Commissioners also approved a letter to be sent to Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, and Reps. Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt, the four Republicans who represent Douglas County at the national level.
“You must prevent a single branch of government from becoming too powerful,” the letter states. Referring to recent executive orders, the letter continues, “We implore you to engage with your congressional colleagues, in addition to the executive branch, to consider and limit the negative repercussions of these hasty and unsympathetic actions.”
Recent federal actions have affected Douglas County community members, including baseless terminations of nearly three dozen employees at Haskell Indian Nations University.
“You have the power to convene tough conversations and resources you can bring to bear as the U.S. Constitution authorizes you to do,” the letter states. “Rather than tacit complacency, we ask you to intercede on behalf of Douglas County and all of our residents.”
The approved version has a few changes from the draft they discussed last week. Read about that at this link; read the final draft at this link.
If our local journalism matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Latest Lawrence news:
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
