By Jim Moore
"Franklin Mountain cannot be found in any written reference but the view on the postcard was recognized by a couple people from a printout.. I went up to North Adams to verify their reports. The view of it as an isolated peak is somewhat of an illusion. In reality, it is the northernmost point of elevation on the range containing Mt. Prospect/Prospect Mountain.
That particular view only exists from a narrow angle and, it is the opinion of my source, that it came from the area of an old house (now gone) just to the east of the water filtration plant near Mt. Williams Reservoir. Problem is that view is now obscured by evergreen trees planted at a later date, probably by the CCC during Depression era times. The attached picture was taken from the front yard of the house and farm just to the west of the water plant. That '"valley" just to the left of the "summit" is where a stream, part of Paul Brook, comes down to flow into the reservoir.
I also investigated the view from several other areas including Rt. 2, the neighborhood to the south of that highway, Mass Avenue, and back across the footbridge again to Rt.2 The mountain is quite visible as one drives along the highway between North Adams and Williamstown. Also coming along are a couple pictures taken from those other areas investigated.
Now that I know where it is, I went back over a couple of my old geology books. One mentions the name of Mount Prospect as "Symonds Peak". First and only time I've ever come across that. That same book (1894) shows a limonite digging down near the base of Franklin Mountain on its geologic map but I can find no reference to it in the book. A later book (1922) mentions limestone quarried from two areas on Prospect Mountain, just over the town line into Williamstown, that had to be carried down the mountain to Blackington."