Franklin Country Club was founded in 1899 on land leased from the Waite family on the south side of East Central Street, starting with twenty members that grew to a fifty-member cap with a waiting list. The original nine was redesigned in 1921; though sometimes called a Donald Ross design, Ross only oversaw construction while Wayne Stiles was the designer. William F. Mitchell renovated it around 1960, and Phillip Wogan expanded it to 18 holes in 1972.