Some area residents have requested information on the Franktown area, so here we go. Earlier residents of the area, like those in the Parker area, were members of the Plains-Woodland group or the Archaic groups and inhabited the Franktown caves in Castlewood Canyon.

In 1858, William Greenberry Russellwithhis brothers Levi and Oliver heard of gold in Colorado when the returned home to Georgia from the "49" strike in California. The Russell brothers returned to Colorado Territory with a group of Cherokee Indians. The group made their way to Russell gulch and began placer mining. Though indications of gold were found, the "mother lode" wasn't located and eventually the group moved on to more promising areas.

The area's next resident appeared to be Charles Parkhurst who squatted an area near present day Highways 86 and 83. Parkhurst developed his residence into a stage stop and hotel calling it California Ranche.

Parkhurst's residency was followed closely by that of James Frank Gardner of New York who established a sawmill in the vicinity of Bayou Gulch road and Highway 83.

Gardner sold the Bayou Gulch sawmill in 1863. Eventually, he moved farther south to the current location of Franktown. At first Franktown was called Frankstown, and became the county seat for Douglas County. Gardner purchased the California Ranche from Parkhurst in 1866 and the ranch continued as the seat of Douglas County until 1874 when the county was reconfigured and residents felt that Castle Rock was more central. When the buildings burned for a second time in 1875, the ranch wasn't rebuilt. But Gardner continued to live in the area and continued to be involved in county politics. He donated a portion of his land for the Franktown school in 1881. The school served the community until 1925 when it was replaced by a newer building near the southwest of the intersection of Highway 83 and 86.

Frank Gardner died in 1904 and is buried in the Franktown Cemetary.