Franklin Square

Franklin Square occupies the site of the original Hobart gaol. After the prisoners moved out in the mid-nineteenth century, the stone walls were demolished to clear a space for a public park. Today, a bronze statue of Sir John Franklin stands at the center, resting on a tall sandstone pedestal. When the statue was unveiled in eighteen sixty-six, the surrounding garden became a focal point for civic life, built directly over the foundations where the city once held its most desperate inhabitants.