Franklin Preservation will be hosting a program entitled A Tour of Franklin Ballrooms on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at noon. Meet at The Franklin Area Chamber Office. The program requires that you be able to climb steps and walk at least a mile. Architect Daniel Weiland will lead the group into the spaces at the Masonic Hall, the Franklin Library, the Armory, the Lamberton Building and its former speak-easy and the hotel space at the Anderson Furniture Building. The program is free to the public and donations are accepted. Proceeds will go toward the restoration of the former Old Lutheran Church and the upkeep of the Venango County Civil War Monument.

Private ballrooms came into vogue during the rise of the Victorian Mansion from the 1880s through the Edwardian period (1901-1910), ending new residential ballroom construction in and around 1920. Society entertained at home in those days, be it an intimate dinner party or an extravagant ball. But more importantly a top-floor ballroom, packed to the gills with elegantly dressed warm bodies (long before air conditioning) dancing to the best live band in town, must have been legendary. These sumptuous amenities were limited to only the most prosperous of families. A grand ballroom, dance cards and string quartets became a cultural tool–a societal device that could solidify a well-born standing as well as aid in the leverage of newly upper class hosting requirements.