Frannie is a town in Big Horn and

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. The population was 157 at the 2010 census. In 1894, Frannie's post office opened. Postmaster Morris, the town's first postmaster, had a daughter named Frannie, and the town was named after her. Until 1954, the legal status of Frannie was that of an unincorporated area taking in parts of Big Horn and Park Counties. In 1954, the town was incorporated. Under Wyoming law (WS 15-3-101), Frannie now has the status of an incorporated town having less than 4,000 people. The town has a mayor-council form of government in which the governing body comprises the mayor and the council, together. The governing body has authority over the budget, other fiscal matters, and other major issues affecting the town. The current mayor is Steven Richardson, whose current term expires in 2026. Frannie receives natural gas service from Frannie-Deaver Utilities, a privately held company in Frannie. Since 1955 the town has provided municipal (potable) water service. In 2000 the town installed a sanitary sewer system. The town contracts for its trash collection and fire-fighting services. Fire protection is provided by the Big Horn County Fire District #5 in Deaver, Wyoming. Police coverage is provided primarily by the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office.

Geography

US Highway 310 (locally known as "Ash St.") is the main road through the town. All but 19 of the town's population is found east of US 310. The town is also located two miles south of the

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

border and is the northernmost town in Wyoming's

Bighorn Basin The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bigho ...

—a mountain desert region which relies on a network of canals and pipelines to provide irrigation and potable water for the population, farming, and ranching activities. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , all land. The Town boundaries, at its eastern end, follow the Sage/Frannie Creek. Among Wyoming towns Frannie has a unique geographic characteristic: it is the only town having boundaries which include parts of two counties—Big Horn (pop. 138) and Park (pop. 19). Accordingly, visitors to Frannie are greeted with a welcoming sign which includes the phrase "Biggest Little Town In Wyoming." Locals say this designation is because "it took two counties to hold our town!" Included in the Park County portion of Frannie is the post office and two of the town's three businesses. The Town Hall is located within the Big Horn County portion.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 157 people, 70 households, and 50 families residing in the town. There were 77 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 95.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.9% Native American, 1.9% African-American, 0% Asian, 0% from other races, and 0% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 7.6% of the population. Some individuals identified as more than one race. Thus these figures add-up to more than 100%. Of the town's 70 households 30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 1.4% of all households had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.64. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 20, 7% from 20 to 29, 19.8% from 30 to 44, 31.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.3 years.

Media

AM radio

* KPOW 1260 AM

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

FM radio

* KTAG 97.9 FM

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

KMXE KMXE-FM is a commercial radio station in Red Lodge, Montana Red Lodge is a city and county seat of Carbon County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,257. History On September 17, 1851, the Un ...

99.3 FM

Classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

* KZMQ-FM 100.3

KCGL KCGL (104.1 FM, "The Eagle") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. It is licensed to Powell, Wyoming, and serves the entire Cody area. The station is currently owned by the Big Horn Radio Network, a division of Legend Communi ...

104.1

* KROW 107.1 Classic Hits

Television

Three television stations are available in Frannie:

KSVI KSVI (channel 6) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with ABC. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW (via The CW Plus). It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which prov ...

(ABC,) KTVQ (CBS) and

KULR KULR-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by the Cowles Company. The station's studios are located on Overland Avenue in the Homestead Business Park section of Billings, and i ...

(NBC) from

Billings Billings is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billin ...

. Reception of additional TV stations is available, by subscription, from TCT West Telephone of Basin, Wyo. and from satellite ("dish") services.

Education

Public education in the town of Frannie is provided by Big Horn County School District #1. Campuses include Rocky Mountain Elementary School (grades PK-5) and Rocky Mountain High School (grades 6-12). Both campuses are located in Cowley, Wyo. Frannie has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, a branch of the Big Horn County Library System.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Wyoming Towns in Big Horn County, Wyoming Towns in Park County, Wyoming