5K Run/Walk to launch Franklin Day July 1

Franklin - A 5K Run/Walk sponsored by the Franklin Historical Society will be the first event at the July 1 Franklin Day. Proceeds will go toward the relocation and restoration of the Edison Schoolhouse/Hungarian Church. The Run/Walk will begin and end at the Franklin Elementary School. Starting time is 8 a.m. Adults and children ages seven and up are welcome. Those interested in preserving a part of Franklin history are encouraged to acquire sponsors for their run. Early entrants will be given commemorative T-shirts, and prizes will be awarded to the winner in each category. Applications are available at the Franklin Municipal Building, the Franklin Heritage Museum, and at Rental Center, USA. The schoolhouse was part of the Edison Village on Sparta Mountain, where Thomas Edison conducted his iron mining operation in the late 1800’s. The N.J. Zinc Company gave a parcel of land in Franklin to the newly formed Hungarian Presbyterian Reformed Church congregation, and in 1908 the schoolhouse in the shuttered Edison Village was transported to Franklin via mules to be used as the church for the Hungarian congregation. The building will be placed on the former Neighborhood House property on Main Street, to be used as a museum and interpretive center. Donations for the project can be sent to ESHCA (Edison Schoolhouse Hungarian Church), c/o The Franklin Historical Society, P.O. Box 332, Franklin, NJ 07416.