The 46th Annual Franklin Car WestTrek takes Members on a Walking Tour of Jacksonville, Rim tour of Crater Lake, and the Butte Creek Mill
Eagle Point, OR – The HH Franklin Club and their cars will visit the Butte Creek Mill Wednesday June 24th from 10 am to 1 pm. The H.H. Franklin Manufacturing Company of Syracuse, NY built America’s most successful air-cooled automobile, with its first innovative air-cooled motorcar in 1902 and continued production until 1934. Of the 150,000 Franklins built between 1902 and 1934, it’s estimated that about 3,700 have survived, and you can see many that have survived Wednesday the 24th at the Butte Creek Mill.
The owner of the Butte Creek Mill, and Mayor of Eagle Point, Bob Russell is pleased to have the H.H. Franklin Club use the Butte Creek Mill as a stopping point. “The Mill, built in 1872 and the H.H. Franklin cars are a testament to good old American ingenuity and craftsmanship. You have to believe that in the early 1900’s that there were Franklins sitting right here in the same parking lot that we’re standing in today.”
The Franklin motor car was invented by the engineer John Wilkinson and manufactured by the industrialist H. H. Franklin and marked under his name. The Franklin was one of the most innovative motor cars of its time, featuring an air-cooled engine, scientific lightweight and flexible construction at a time when other luxury car manufacturers were making ponderous machines. Although it was a luxury car, its unique features made the Franklin a pleasant and easy car to operate, and consequently most Franklins were owner driven.
The H. H. Franklin Club was founded in 1951 and is comprised of some 900 plus members worldwide, most of them residing in the U.S. and Canada. It is devoted to preserving and enjoying the legacy of the H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company and its principal product the Franklin motor car, (1902 – 1934) one of the pioneer American automobiles.
On the National Register of Historic Places, the world famous Butte Creek Mill is the only water-powered grist mill West of the Mississippi, commercially still grinding flour, the same way they did in 1872. You can taste the difference in all their products from their whole wheat flours, gluten free flours, alternative flours and, organic flours. Learn more at http://buttecreekmill.com.
