Granville Then & Now – January 7, 2021

Reflecting on the amount of snow, rain here

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

Many minds in the area are pondering on how long it has been since the Granville area received a wallop of snow as it did Dec. 17. The answer depends on whether the storm left almost as much snow as this time, or more. The most recent storm to get the closest to last storm’s total would be the February 2007 nor’easter, which left about 30 inches in the area, still less than what we got a few weeks ago.

There were other big storms further back: the Thanksgiving 1971 storm, which snarled traffic throughout the Northeast; the December 1969 storm, which brought heavy, wet snow, enough to result in the collapse of the ill-maintained roof of the Pember Opera House. While Granville wasn’t particularly lucky in getting three feet of snow on a prediction of six inches, Granville did luck out in a way as December 2020’s nor’easter was the soft, light snow and not the heavy snow.

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2020 has left and 2021 has arrived. Let’s take a brief look back at some of the good that happened. The decorative building outline lights on Granville’s Main Street shined from 2019 through January … another Granville athlete made the record books when Jarett Williams became the fifth basketball player to score 1,000 points … the Main Street lights were turned back on the evening of March 19 … after the schools went remote, the daily announcements at the high school continued to be given by senior Payton Barlow from her home … the replacement of the village streetlights with soft yellow LED lights … the repaving of Route 22 from Middle Granville to the Fort Ann town line in the spring … the double graduation ceremony, that allowed for graduates to have a physical graduation event, parents to attend and watch, and for the school to abide by the state’s attendance limits.

Jordan Flower painted murals on two of Telescope Casual Furniture’s buildings facing Church Street, working every other week from late June through August … Granville still had its fireworks display this year on Independence Day, July 4 … the repaving of Route 149 from Granville to Hartford in the summer … the placement of the new Global War on Terrorism monument in Veterans Memorial Park … the high school track and scoreboard were replaced and modernized … the first Autumn Leaves Car Cruise, organized on the fly as a replacement for the canceled Granville Area Autumn Leaves Car Show, was held on a day with the sun shining warm and the area’s trees showing their colorful foliage … the drive-through Halloween basket giveaway, that gave about 1,000 baskets of goodies to children from the area and surrounding places … the expanded decorative building outline lights on locally owned village businesses … the virtual tree lighting ceremony, streamed live in its entirety online … the Christmas decorations on houses and businesses in the village, Middle Granville, and elsewhere in the town of Granville.

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The ground of the Granville area was green, and bare of snow, until the recent nor’easter. Once that hit, it began to look like Granville would have a “white Christmas” after all. However, the weather forecast the week of Christmas took a different turn. The week would have warmer weather, culminating in temperatures floating near 50 on Christmas Eve.

Rain started falling the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, and continued off and on through the night, into the morning hours of Christmas Day. By Christmas morning, much of the snow had melted. The temperature was over 50 degrees for much of the day. With that, the chance of a “white Christmas” was dashed.

On Dec. 23, the prediction was made that the rains would result in severe flooding along the Mettowee River, with a flood crest level projected to be comparable to that of a level reached on Jan. 6, 1998. That event brought sufficient flood waters to go over Cove Road just east of the bridge, flooded the corners south of the village, and damaged some of the landscaping around the Slate Valley Museum, but not the museum itself.

Some of the places that did flood were the fields along the Mettowee west of the Middle Granville road, part of the channel that washes out Cove Road, and some of the area around the Route 22 bridge over the Indian River on the bypass. The corners did not flood, Cove Road did not get inundated or washed out, and there were few low-lying village properties that had fields or lawns partly flooded. Part of the reason floods were mitigated was that the weather had been warm for days and the ground was not frozen, allowing the water to be absorbed. Had the ground been frozen when the rains came, there would have been a lot more flooding in the Granville area.

While the weather prediction for little snow on Dec. 17 was a very mistaken understatement, the prediction that there would be flooding on Dec. 25 turned out to be right. However, the prediction this time was an overstatement; Granville fared much better in terms of flooding than in January 1998.

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Christmas Day in Granville started out as a relatively quiet day. There was little activity since almost everything was closed. The most commotion was around 10:30 a.m., when the power went out for a few minutes, and came back on. For the village and south half of the town, this was but a brief power interruption, and the day continued as usual.

The north half of town, including Middle Granville and North Granville, was not as lucky. The reason for the power outage was that a branch of a tree on Dayton Hill Road in Middle Granville, within 50 feet of the road’s end at Old Route 22, fell down and took the wires as well. Within a few minutes, power attempted to come back on in these parts of town, causing a brief “light show” as a power arc formed. The phenomenon appeared twice; one of them may have appeared as the branch came down on the wires. The power remained out in the north half of the town of Granville for nearly two hours.

Crews from NYSEG were on the scene by noon. Power was restored to the north half of town around 12:20 p.m.

Perhaps the most unfortunate impact of the power outage was a change of plan for many a household’s Christmas Day cooking. There was also the issue of cellar sump pumps rendered inoperable due to the lack of power. A few had to call the local volunteer fire company to pump out their cellars.

The Granville area in 1970 also had a power outage near the end of the year. On the afternoon of Dec. 31, at 2:52 p.m., an insulator failed on a circuit breaker at the substation on North Street. Power was out for an hour, until restored at 3:55 pm. 

Granville Then & Now – January 14, 2021

Braymer Monument a symbol for 90 years

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

Braymer Monument sits on the side of the hill to the west of the village of Granville. This monument has intrigued many tourists and residents alike over the years. People wonder about the origin and reason for the monument. The short answer is that the hillside was once owned by Bert Braymer, and that he built the monument. However, there’s more to the story.

Albert “Bert” Braymer was born in Hebron, the son of Alfred and Mary Nelson Braymer. He grew up there, and as a young man, he moved west to the Indian Territory, now the state of Oklahoma. There was lawlessness around Braymer. He crossed paths with some of the famous outlaws of the time. He saw the saloons and the gambling establishments, enough to form strong opinions on them, which he held for the rest of his life. While Braymer was exposed to gambling during his time out west, it is unclear if Braymer himself actually gambled.

Bert Braymer returned to Granville around the turn of the 20th century. He married May Durhman and they had a son, John D. Braymer. Bert owned a farm on the west end of Mettowee Street, which also encompassed grazing area on the side of the mountain to the west of this part of the village. He later built the Braymer house on North Columbus Street.

Braymer was rather blunt with his opinions and predictions. One such prediction he made was in 1927, when the stock market was booming. A prominent Granville businessman was talking with Morris Rote-Rosen. Braymer asked him about how well he was doing on the stock market. “We made ten thousand dollars this week and we stand a chance to double it next week,” the man replied. After a moment, Braymer asked: “Are you getting the cash of your investments or are you talking about paper profits?”

The man did not reply, and silence followed as Braymer continued, “Let me give you a tip. Cash in your investments now and stop gambling. If you don’t you will be wiped out like the other suckers by those squint-eyed wolves on Wall Street. It’s coming, one can see, and it is as plain as a Billy goat’s tail going up a hill. When the Wall Street crash comes, and it won’t be long now, and you are holding the bag with a lot of worthless papers in your hand, you won’t have a pair of pants left nor a roof over your head. Take a tip,” said Bert, “get out while the getting is good.”

The man laughed off Braymer’s prediction. When the stock market crash of 1929 occurred, the prominent businessman lost everything including the house, and his wife was left penniless. Braymer did not live to see it happen, but his prediction turned out right. It was predictions like this that made Braymer a disliked figure by those who frowned upon him.

In 1926, there was activity on the hillside that Braymer owned. Braymer regularly visited the village clerk’s office, and one day clerk Morris Rote-Rosen asked him about the activity. Braymer responded that he was “going to have a monument erected there… when [it] is through I will have something to be remembered by.” Rote-Rosen then asked why he was erecting a monument to himself. “I want to be remembered after I am gone,” said Braymer, “I want to people to inquire whose monument that is.”

Braymer continued, “I have no religion but I never took one penny from the widows or orphans nor did I ever take advantage of the working man like some of the leaders in Granville. They are church members and they claim to be religious, they run to church on Sundays and rob everybody they can during the other days of the week.”

“These men are hypocrites, liars and cheats,” he said. “When I meet them on the street they don’t know me. They look the other way. I am not good enough for them. But, after we have all passed on they will be long forgotten while people will talk about me and still mention my name.”

Several men and a team of horses hauled materials up the hill to the monument, the work being led by Anthony McDonough. The monument was finished within a year. Standing about 30 feet tall, it was painted white, with a plaque about a third of the way up, reading “Albert Braymer, born Sept. 8, 1863.”

Albert “Bert” Braymer died July 1, 1928, aged 64. He was survived by a widow, May Durhman Braymer, and a son, John. After Braymer’s passing, his body was cremated, and his ashes reportedly scattered on the mountain. A missing space in the plaque was filled with the date of passing.

The farm operated into the 1940s. The part of the Braymer farm within the village limits was eventually partly developed in the 1960s into Berkowitz Drive and Troy Terrace. The farmlands west of the village and Indian River began to return to the forest.

As early as 1965, there was interest in keeping the Braymer monument in view. Granville’s Boy Scout troops cleared out the area in the immediate vicinity in the fall of 1965, so that they could use the area as a campsite. By the late 1980s, the area had become overgrown again; it had not been used as a campsite for some years.

In 1995, Scott Shaw, a Boy Scout with Granville’s Troop 44, decided on cleaning up the Braymer Monument as the community service project he would oversee on his pathway to becoming an Eagle Scout. Shaw’s father had heard of a desire to repair the monument and reclaim it at a Rotary Club meeting. The monument was in disrepair, trees had grown up around it, and the path leading to the monument had become overgrown. With friends from high school and football players, as well as other members of his scout troop, Shaw managed his team as 80 hours of work was put into the effort.

In the intervening 25 years the area around Braymer’s Monument has grown in again. Longtime Granville Village DPW employee Dan Williams expressed interest in doing so upon his retirement in the fall of 2017. Some clearing work has been done since then. While it was reported at the time that the property had been sold to local interests, this is not the case; Susan Braymer, wife of John Braymer, sold the property in 2011 to Mark Jensen of New Jersey.

Bert Braymer predicted when he built the monument that people would ask about the monument long after he and his contemporaries had passed away. More than 90 years after his passing, people continue to ask about the monument on the Braymer hill. At one time the monument could be seen for miles.

Braymer’s Monument and its site have over the years been periodically maintained, and at other times left to fade away. The Braymer Monument is a part of Granville’s history. Hopefully, another group of local residents will take interest in fixing up the monument, and clearing the immediate area of trees and brush, improving the visibility of the monument from Granville.

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Granville’s Main Street is moving along. The 13 East Main building has been renovated by its new owners. The upstairs apartment is now ready to be rented out. Work is also being done on the first-story floor space.

Another real estate opening has appeared on Main Street. The 6-10 Main Street building, presently owned by Compu-Design USA, is for sale. The building is in decent shape and has been worked on in recent years; the building has a new electrical system. A new owner would have a couple of modernization projects to do, most importantly the replacement of the obsolete air conditioning system. After these repairs are made, along with any other wanted changes, the building would be ready for use, hopefully bringing another business to Granville’s Main Street.

If a new owner desired to demolish the 6-10 Main building, coordination would be required with the Village of Granville. The village owns the historic Memorial Clock on the property, has a long-term lease on the right of having the clock’s pedestal on the property, and the master clock mechanism controlling the Memorial Clock is inside the building. 

Granville Then & Now – January 28, 2021

Photo could have saved Main St. building

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

Hayes Building in 1912

A well-known adage posits that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Certainly there are quite a few photos of Granville that would convey as much.

One of those photos is this one of an old bridge crossing the Mettowee River on Main Street in the village of Granville. The photo is one of several taken on May 18, 1912 by Granville photographer Fay McFadden. His photos showed the bridge from several angles, looking west and east from the north and south sides of the bridge, as well as a sidewalk view looking east from a vantage point on the south sidewalk just west of the bridge. The photos also happened to show the buildings in the vicinity of the bridge crossing; the picture here shows the J.J. Hayes block under construction.

It is unclear who the photos were intended for, since they were prints. The photos surfaced around 1980 and were donated to the Granville Heritage Society, which stored them away. The organization went through phases of activity and longer phases of dormancy and was formally dissolved in the mid-2010s; the society’s rooms in the Granville Town Hall building were shared in its last decade with the historian’s office. Upon the society’s dissolution, the items and rooms became solely that of the historian. McFadden’s photos of the older Main Street bridge in 1912 were rediscovered last year.

The Main Street bridge crossing was removed within a year and replaced with a steel arch bridge. The new bridge had river flow problems. During the ice thaws in the late winter and early spring, the water and ice coming down the Mettowee would back up at the bridge. Dynamite had to be used to break up the ice jam. To alleviate this problem, another bridge was built in 1933 adjacent west of the 1913 bridge. This new structure allowed for improved river flow and eliminated the yearly ice jam issue.

By 2000, the bridge combo was deteriorating. The state Department of Transportation made plans to replace the bridges. The plan also involved taking a building on the north side of the east approach: the J.J. Hayes building.

In the years since McFadden’s photos, the J.J. Hayes building was completed and had passed through several owners and uses. The building eventually held a bar and pool tables. Larry Hayes built an addition with bowling alleys and building and business were later owned by Michael “Jumbo” Caruso. The bowling alleys eventually closed, and the bar closed by the early 1980s. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Raymond Parker owned the building and ran a Sears Catalog Store there. By the time the Main Street bridge replacement project was started, the building had come under the ownership of Theo Parker.

The reason the DOT had for wanting to acquire Parker’s building was because they believed the building sat on the retaining wall for the 1913 arch bridge. In the photo, the building sits on an older retaining wall that predated the 1913 bridge; as such, the DOT’s reasoning was inaccurate. Unfortunately, no one was aware of the photo’s existence in the early 2000s. As such, there was no reason to contest the DOT on their conclusions.

The DOT acquired the J.J. Hayes building from Parker and demolished it in the spring of 2006 as part of the right of way phase of the Main Street bridge replacement project.

Today, the former location of the building is a vacant lot. The former storefront area along Main Street is now a garden with a few trees, maintained by the Slate Valley Garden Club. The rest is mostly sloping land to the former basement level back of Main Street.

Had McFadden’s photo resurfaced sooner, the photo could have saved a building from being lost, from its owner and from Granville’s Main Street. But the photo did not surface at the time, and the J.J. Hayes building joined the list of those buildings which, whether by fire, demolition, or collapse, are no longer part of the landscape of Granville’s Main Street. 

Granville Then & Now – February 11, 2021

Middle Granville thrived in 1900

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

Middle Granville, located two miles north of the Village of Granville, is today primarily a quiet, residential area, with some businesses. Over a century ago, there was much business activity in Middle Granville. In the final weeks of 1900, the Granville Sentinel ran several features promoting local businesses. The feature in the Dec. 14, 1900 issue set its focus on Middle Granville.

The article described Middle Granville as a community with an improving outlook: “an ideal home village, not in the sense that all conditions are perfect, leaving nothing to be done in working out a more desirable state of affairs, but in the sense that these possibilities are being rightly developed; and that all dominant influences are of a character to distinguish Middle Granville as one of the most desirable villages in which to establish a permanent business and home. Middle Granville is beautifully situated and presents a trim, handsome appearance. The village is well laid out and its streets are broad and well kept.”

The benefits of Middle Granville were described. “… located in a thriving and prosperous slate country … excellent farming section … rich in capital, strong in credit, untrammeled by debt, with small taxation and cheap real estate, destined to advance in value. Its school system is one of the best and affords excellent educational facilities.”

The grand introduction of Middle Granville concluded with a similar introduction of its businesses. “Its business men are progressive, several of whom have worked up thriving enterprises from small beginnings … We commend the perusal of the following business notices to our readers, and patronage extended to any one of them will not be regretted by those contributing the same.” The feature proceeded to describe several businesses, mostly stores.

M.H. Lyon general store: “…ample and stocked with an almost endless variety of dry goods, fancy goods, boots and shoes, crockery, groceries, flour, wall paper, men’s hats and caps, American Seal paints, blankets, the Warrensburgh and Potsdam wool pants for men, and fact everything belonging to a first-class general supply store is here kept. Inside figures are quoted on all goods dealt in and the trade is large and constantly increasing, while the future of this concern contains the brightest prospects.”

A.N. Rogers hardware store: “A progressive concern …identified with the hardware trade, is that conducted by A.N. Rogers. The store is spacious and well equipped and inception … has been an important factor in the progress of this section’s commercial importance. The stock carried is large and varied, and embraces every known article in builders’ … hardware, carpenters and mechanic’s tools, cutlery, wagon-makers supplies, iron and steel, paints … and everything belonging to the business. Plumbing, tin-smithing, roofing and jobbing in the line is also done. A large business is transacted in the sale of stoves and ranges, a specialty being made of the Andes and Sure Luck heating and cooking stoves. Mr. Rogers is a man of reliability and maintains an A-1 standing in commercial life.”

J.T. Hughes & Son: “The popular store of J.T. Hughes & Son … is an example of what enterprise and business capacity can accomplish in building up a large trade. … The store is amply large and systematically arranged. A large stock is carried of staple and fancy dry goods, dress goods, dress fabrics, ladies’ and gentlemen’s furnishing goods, ladies’ shirt waits, skirts, wall paper, men’s harts and caps, fur coats, groceries and general merchandise. … Messrs. Hughes & Son are reliable business men. They occupy a position of high standing in trade circles and are of the foremost of the town’s leading business people in its broadest sense.”

S.J. Thomas: “…since the establishment of the business … a large trade has been acquired. Mr. Thomas is a practical man in the business and brings to bear a cultivated taste in the selection of first-class, stylish goods. The result is that the stock is at all times thoroughly representative of the latest novelties in men’s, youths and boys’ clothing and furnishing goods of every description, and which merits the inspection of all classes of customers. The store is neatly equipped and customers find displayed here a large variety of ready-made clothing and outfitting goods suited to the wants of the trade, being of the best material and correct in style, while patrons will find the prices so low that there is no need to look elsewhere. … [Mr. Thomas] is widely and favorably known and is an energetic and thoroughly reliable gentleman.”

A.B. Rogers: “…leading grocery establishment … ample and is filled to repletion with the best food supplies that the advanced accommodations of the trade demand. That it pays to be enterprising and progressive is evidenced by the growth of this business, which has distanced competitors in this line in amount of sales, and it has also done in advanced methods. The store is filled with an endless variety of the choicest staple and fancy groceries, canned goods, sauces, spices, condiments, relishes, flour, sugar, syrups, etc. … specialty is also made of fine teas and coffees. The business as conducted is of large volume … as conducted by Mr. Rogers is of much value … in which its proprietor can take just pride.”

Central House: “The Central House of Middle Granville, under the enterprising proprietorship of John Reil, is conducted on excellent lines and enjoys a first-class patronage. … is a commodious two-story building, located in the heart of the village and convenient alike for the traveling as well as the local patrons. The sleeping apartments and sitting rooms are neatly furnished and the dining room is excellently arranged, while the table is at all times supplied with the best food articles. Mr. Reil … is pleasant mannered, active and energetic, and is well calculated to conduct an establishment of this character, as is attested by his judicious management of this hotel.”

Dr. W.J. Williamson, D.D.S.: “…is a dentist of large experience, and numbers among his regular customers many of the leading people, not alone locally, but many come to him from points distant from here to have their dental work done. HIs office is neatly equipped and is provided with every modern convenience to aid in the business. He is expert in all branches of dentistry. … Doctor Williamson is widely and favorably known and occupies a position of high standing in his profession.”

B.E. Curtis: “This gentleman has … built up an exceedingly prosperous enterprise. His store is neatly equipped and he carries a well selected stock of staple groceries, confections, cigars, boots and shoes. … Mr. Curtis gives his personal attention to all the details of the business. He is well known for his honesty and the strict adherence to every representation made, and is providing every want of the community in his direction of trade.”

A.W. Tupper: “The pharmacy …  is a leader, is excellently equipped and presents that attractive appearance associated with a first-class drug store. Mr. Tupper is a druggist of experience and ranks among the foremost members of the pharmaceutical profession. The store is stocked with pure drugs of all kinds, toilet articles, proprietary remedies, and everything belonging to the business. … Mr. Tupper is popular in business circles and has won the unfaltering confidence of the public.”

Brown & Pritchard: “…millers and dealers in flour, grain and feed. This mill is equipped with the best machinery for the production of the best quality feed middlings, buckwheat flour, etc. …. The present firm … not only held the patronage which has been past and parcel of the success of the mill since it was established, but have gone on increasing their list of customers. The copartners are men of well-known integrity and are popular in business circles.”

In the 120 years that have passed since the Middle Granville business feature appeared in the Sentinel, there has been much change with businesses. None of the businesses described above are operating firms today. Most of the business buildings have gone from the landscape as well. The only business building in 1900 that is still used for one is the A.N. Rogers building; Chapman’s General Store is located there today. 

Granville Then & Now – February 25, 2021

Gleanings of Granville in early 1901

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The archive issues of the Granville Sentinel from 1901 to 1913 no longer exist. It is unknown exactly how they were lost, but a couple of reasons have been considered. One possibility is that they were destroyed by saturation when the Granville Water Works tank ruptured. The tank was located on the hillside behind the corner of North and Main Streets, roughly where the upper parking area for Gemini Fitness is now. This would have sent a deluge of water out from the tank, down the hill; the Sentinel was then on North Street and the building would have been right in the path. The other suggested possibility is that there was a fire in the Sentinel building, and those papers burned during said fire. Whatever the reason, the editions from 1901 to 1913 that were held by the Sentinel are no longer extant, and those issues that have survived have come from other places.

The loss of newspapers from this time period means a loss of direct information on the business, civic, cultural, and municipal activities of the Granville area. This, however, does not mean a total loss of insight; newspapers from the region, such as the Poultney Journal or the Whitehall Times, each had a correspondent writing a Granville column for their respective papers.

While issues of the Sentinel itself have turned up from this “lost era,” none has yet turned up for 1901. Here is a gleaning of happenings in the Granville area from early 1901, from January to March, which were reported by other area newspapers.

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Rev. Joseph T. Zorn, of the Trinity Episcopal Church, left for Ticonderoga in February. He had been in Granville for seven years. Rev. Zorn was involved in his parish and in the community, and was the founder of the Granville branch of the Young Men’s Guild. His final Sunday service in late February was well attended, as was his final meeting with the Young Men’s Guild.

The Granville Methodist Church in January contemplated the building of a new church that would hold 1,000 people. This did not come to fruition, but a new edifice was later built in 1916.

Dwight Sykes moved from North Hebron to reside in Granville. He had entered into partnership with Patrick Cullen the previous fall, operating a grain and feed business in Granville.

Panels for grand and trial jurors were drawn in January at the Washington County clerk’s office in Argyle, to serve the term of county court to be held at Salem beginning Jan. 28.  James E. Goodman, C.N. McDonald, M.J. Hayes, and A.T. Hughes were chosen to be grand jurors. O.S. Simonds and John J. Gray were chosen to be trial jurors.

Changes happened with the Central House. Its operator, G.E. Towne, had been negotiating to purchase the Globe Hotel in Albany, a sale which went through at the start of February. Towne never made it to the Globe, however; he passed away Feb. 8. George Edward Towne was from Cambridge, and had lived in Granville for some time about 30 years before his passing. He returned to Granville in the 1890s to run the Central House. After Towne’s passing, the Central House assets went to the Granville National Bank. By late February, the west addition had been sold to Gen. William H. Hughes, and the livery stable and barn had been sold to Norton Brothers. Towne had been leasing the Central House from its owner George Finch; he purchased the building back that year.

Several businesses changes occurred in February. The Hollister and Barnard grocery store moved to the C.N. McDonald store. The Bascom & Beecher firm opened at the site of the “Cash store.” The Granville Mercantile Company opened in the Ellis Williams store on Feb. 16. It was owned by W.H. Hughes, Ellis Williams and C.N. McDonald. W.H. Hollister sold his share in part of a Main Street building to O.S. Simonds and William Munson for about $5,000. The C.N. McDonald store was in the building originally built by S.K. Potter, today known as the 76 Main Street building. The Ellis Williams store building was later occupied for many years by the R.E. Rudd appliance store, and has since been demolished. The “Cash store,” and in turn the Beecher and Bascom store, were in the Hayes block, on the south side of Main Street next to the railroad tracks; the building was demolished and the site is now public parking.

The annual town elections were held in early March. Incumbent E.C. Whittemore (R) was reelected over opponents M.J. Hayes (D) and George H. Northup (Prohibition Party). Whittemore, Republican, won with 467 votes; Hayes received 317, and Northup received 52.

In late March, J.L. McArthur, editor of the Sentinel, suggested that the county seat be moved to Granville, noting the town was “rapidly expanding and is bound to become the metropolis of the county. No combination of adverse agencies can prevent it. Fire cannot destroy or thieves carry away her mineral wealth so securely held by mother earth, and she possesses the brains, intelligence and capital to develop her personal and monetary greatness. She is bound to be a winner in the contest for supremacy in municipal affairs. The county court house, jail and clerk’s office should be located here – and eventually will be.” McArthur continued, noting the inconvenience of the county clerk’s office being in Argyle instead of in a town with a railroad, and the worsening condition of the Salem courthouse and jail.

Editor M.C. Reynolds of the Whitehall Times responded in its March 28 issue that McArthur’s idea was “too ridiculous to mention. Why that little town situated on the slate dumps of Vermont should claim this distinction is more than any sane person in Washington county can imagine. It is true that the county clerk’s office should be changed… situated on the line of the railroad. But there is no reason why it should be situated in Granville.”

Several of Granville were appointed March 5 as notaries for Washington County, for a term of two years, commencing March 31. They were C.E. Parker, L.C. Thorne, and D.D. Woodard of Granville, and C.L. Mason and S.G. Wiley of North Granville. 

Granville Then & Now – March 11, 2021

Mystery of the North Street cannon solved

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The cannon that was located on the green at the corner of North Street and Pine Street has been a curious subject of many longtime or former Granville residents. While everyone agrees there was a cannon there, opinions differ on how long it was there, and when and why it was removed.

The Captain Israel Harris Chapter, the Granville chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, placed a flagpole in the park at the corner of North and Pine Streets in the village on May 30, 1916. The members of the D.A.R. chapter also desired to secure a cannon to place there with the flagpole and made efforts to acquire one.

July 26, 1916 was a big day for the Captain Israel Harris Chapter. Walter H. Rathbun drove a cannon to the park for the chapter. It was reported at the time that “a force of men were ready to assist him to unload and the cannon was soon in its place in the park and will be an attraction to passersby… Mr. Rathbun knew of one which had been stored in his father’s barn at North Granville for years and kindly volunteered to loan and bring it there. His kindness will be much appreciated.”

Rathbun’s cannon had been used at the North Granville Military Academy, which fired the cannon at patriotic observances. It is unknown whether the military academy bought the cannon for its own use or if it dated from the Civil War or earlier. It is also unknown if the cannon was ever used for any military training exercises at the academy.

The cannon was a sizable one, but not the largest. It was placed with the barrel facing north. Its wheels were spaced a couple of feet apart, and concrete holders were placed underneath the wheels.

As time passed, the youngsters did not know about how the cannon was placed, only that the cannon was an object in the green at the street corners. The more behaved children played ball in the green. However, there were some who were more mischievous. As Morris Rote-Rosen noted in his “Main Street” column of Aug. 16, 1956, “…the hoodlums didn’t think so. Year after year the cannon was knocked over or dragged down the highway until the wheels were removed. But that didn’t stop them either.”

It was likely around this time that the cannon’s barrel was filled with concrete, to further deter vandalizing of the cannon. This situation may have been why the Captain Israel Harris Chapter was amicable to removing the cannon when the time came.

In September of 1942, Granville conducted a scrap metal drive for the war effort. World War II was in full swing. The editorial “D.A.R. Cannon” in the Sept. 24, 1942 issue of the Sentinel noted: “The cannon on the green at the intersection of Pine and North streets is going the way of all good things, to help win the war. The Daughters of the American Revolution are donating it to the Salvage Committee. We hope it gets several Japs in its service this time. It probably has a history and we hope its present mission will make even better history.” The cannon had been on the green for 26 years.

The concrete holders for the cannon survived into the 1960s, but eventually disappeared. Thelma Hicks recalled in 1974 to publisher MacArthur Manchester that the cannon was turned into scrap metal, as well as an old flower urn at the Granville D&H station. Manchester noted this in his Editor at Large column of May 30, 1974. The flagpole which was placed at the park in 1916 by the Captain Israel Harris Chapter was replaced with a new flagpole in 1976, as part of Granville’s celebration of the American Bicentennial. The flagpole still stands today.

The cannon was truly a piece of Granville history, first in usage by the military academy in North Granville, and then as part of the park at the corner of North and Pine Streets. It became a landmark in Granville during the time it graced the corner. The loss of the cannon to a World War II scrap drive is a better fate than others which have been suggested over the years. The memory of the cannon long outlasted its presence in Granville.

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Marion Ladewig at Jumbo’s Bowling Alley

Granville’s female bowlers were in for a treat on March 5, 1953. A news item in the same-dated issue of the Sentinel proclaimed, “Champion Woman Bowler At Ritz Alleys Today”, and noted “The queen of the world’s bowlers comes to Granville today… to regale local fans… on the kegling lanes at the Ritz Alley.”

This woman bowler was Marion Ladewig, who was from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was active in competitive bowling from the 1940s to 1964. Between 1950 and 1963, she was voted the Bowler of the Year by the Bowling Writers’ Association of America. Ladewig is the only woman to have won, in the same year, the titles for the City, State and National All-Events tournaments held by the Women’s International Bowling Congress; she won them all in 1951.

On that afternoon, Ladewig came to Granville and demonstrated her skills at the Ritz Diner and Recreation on Main Street, then owned by Michael “Jumbo” Caruso and Cosimo Grottoli. A group of girls from Granville High School were in attendance. Granville photographer Pat Mulhair also attended the event, and took a photo of Ladewig as she bowled. Ladewig signed the photo afterwards, with a dedication to the owners of the Ritz Diner and Recreation: "To Mike Caruso and Cosimo Grottoli, my sincerest best wishes."

After 1964, Ladewig went into a quiet retirement. She passed away in April of 2010, aged 95. The photo of Ladewig in Granville resurfaced around that time.

The Ritz Diner and Recreation building was on the north side of Main Street on the east side of the Main Street bridge. The original building was built by J.J. Hayes, and the bowling alley was an addition. The building was torn down in 2006 as part of the construction of the new Main Street bridge.

Granville Then & Now – March 25, 2021

West Pawlet stores thrived in 1900

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

West Pawlet, Vermont, located a couple miles south of the Village of Granville at the state line, is today primarily a quiet residential area. More than a century ago, there was a lot of business activity in West Pawlet. In the final weeks of 1900, the Granville Sentinel ran several features promoting local businesses in Granville and surrounding communities. The feature in the Dec. 28, 1900 issue, the final issue of 1900, set its focus on West Pawlet.

Unlike the first Granville feature and that of Middle Granville, there was no detailed description of the benefits of West Pawlet in its feature. The introduction simply stated: “Following the business sketches heretofore published of Granville and Middle Granville, we call the reader’s attention this week to our neighboring village, West Pawlet. The sketches are in a concise form and give an outline of the leading business men and their business in that thriving village.” The feature then commenced with describing several businesses of West Pawlet, mostly stores.

D. Hawkins & Co.: “…engaged in the handling and sale of furniture … occupy a leading position … store is excellently stocked and embraces fine and medium grade furniture, including parlor suits, dining room, hall and library furniture, fancy chairs and stands, rockers, springs, and everything belonging to the business … the undertaking department is also reliably and carefully presided over .. this firm also operates a grist mill … Messrs. Hawkins & Co are of this section’s most public spirited citizens and their establishment is an important factor…”

Layden & Burdick: “…one of the leading headquarters for staple and fancy dry goods, boots and shoes, groceries and general merchandise. The store is spacious and supplied with every convenience that the advanced requirements of the times demand. … the copartners are experienced in the business and have marked facilities for procuring goods from first hands, thus enabling them to place their goods before patrons at lowest prices. Messrs. Layden & Burdick are gentlemen of integrity and reliability…”

Copeland & Co.: “…dealers in staple and fancy dry goods, men’s and boys’ hats, groceries, shoes and general merchandise, and the stock in each department is kept replenished with frequent invoices of the best goods. The one price system prevails here and bottom prices are quoted on all goods dealt in. … a large trade has been developed as the just result of equitable methods and fair and square dealing. Messrs. Copeland & Co. are widely and favorably known and sustain an excellent reputation for integrity and well balanced business methods.”

T. Folger & Son.: “Dealers in lumber and builders’ wood working supplies, also carrying on an extensive business in stone flagging, shipping annually many car loads. The concern also deals largely in stoves and ranges, making a specialty of the Andes, Round Oak, Stewart and West Shore, and do all work connected with pluming, steam and gas fitting and general jobbing in this line. They are agents for the Buckeye and other farming machinery, and carry in stock a complete line of harness and horse furnishing goods. The policy upon which the business of this concern is conducted is characterized by liberality and a careful fostering of the interests of patrons…”

D.J. Keefe: “A well conducted meat market is of inestimable advantage to any community, and West Pawlet is fortunate in the possession of such an establishment. … The goods handled by him are of excellent quality and are always just as recommended …from the outset he has steadily added to the most progressive ideas. In addition to keeping in stock the choicest meats, he also carries a full line of vegetables and fish; also canned goods and oysters. Mr. Keefe is enterprising and that he pleases his customers is attested by the fact that he enjoys such a large trade. He is an affable business man and makes many patrons his friends… his future success is thoroughly assured.

W. O. Williams: “engaged in the dry goods and grocery trades is that of W.O. Williams, who has just reason to be proud of the success he has achieved in establishing himself so firmly in the trade of this section. The store occupied is ample and so filled with a large and varied assortment of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, wall paper and general merchandise, and the stock is kept replenished with frequent invoices. The one price system is rigidly adhered to and bottom prices are quoted on all goods dealt in, the result being … getting full value for every dollar expended. Mr. Williams is also the village’s very efficient postmaster, and sustains an excellent reputation for sterling integrity and well balanced commercial methods.”

J.H. Trumbull: “To the concern… must be accorded a prominent position as having supplied this section with ample facilities for procuring lumber, sash, doors, blinds, interior finish for buildings and wood working materials generally. …the trade commanded in each department is influential. The plant is embraced in several buildings and sheds, and every facility is afforded for the successful conduct of the business. As a builder and contractor Mr. Trumbull is also favorably known. He has been identified with the construction of many of the best buildings hereabouts, any and all of which attest to his ability as a first-class builder. He also deals in builders’ hardware, cement, lime and builders’ supplies generally. Mr. Trumbull is a reliable and responsible gentleman and enjoys a high standing in financial and business circles.”

Hotel Pawlet – H. McMurray, Proprietor: “…a well conducted hostelry, it is excellently equipped and will be found in no respect inferior to any in this section. The house contains fifteen neatly equipped rooms and all the accessions of the house are in excellent taste, and the service in every feature is satisfactory. The cuisine at this hotel is too well known to require extended comment at our hands. …it is liberally patronized and no better or more complete table is set anywhere in this section. Mr. McMurray is one of the most energetic local business men, and as a genial and successful hotel man he is familiarly acquainted with the best traveling public. Connected with the hotel is also a well-equipped livery which is provided with several good horses and the necessary conveyances.”

In the 120 years that have passed since the West Pawlet business feature was published in the Sentinel, there has been much change in the businesses of West Pawlet. None of the businesses described above are operating today. The W.O. Williams store was the last firm to have a descendant business operating; in more recent years it was known as Dutchie’s. That store was shuttered in 2011, by an accidental fire nearby that razed the building.

Of the business buildings used in 1900, the only ones left are the block the Copeland store was located in and the Layden & Burdick building to the right. The West Pawlet Post Office today occupies the space used in 1900 by the Copeland store. 

Granville Then & Now – April 22, 2021

Granvillian Tierney had bigtime baseball ties

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

While Granville has had a solid Little League program over the years, and has produced some good baseball teams, connections to professional baseball are few and far between. One of those connections came about during the golden era of baseball, when it was truly considered “America’s pastime.” James J. Tierney was Granville’s connection to a major league team during those golden years.

James Tierney, known as “Jim”, was born in 1882 in Mineville, a small village in the town of Moriah in Essex County. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Tierney, moved to Granville by the early 1890s; the family was among the many of Irish descent that were moving to Granville to get employment during the boom years of the slate industry.

Tierney went to Granville schools, but his name is not among the graduation lists of the Granville High School in the era. He evidently continued his education elsewhere, as Tierney became a teacher of English and math at New York City’s Manhattan College. He eventually resigned this position, becoming a member of the Secret Service, where he took part in breaking up counterfeiters operating out of Canada.

It is unclear how Tierney came to be involved with baseball. One possibility is that a connection to the professional baseball team that operated in Granville from the 1890s to the 1920s was a factor. Another possibility is that Tierney became associated with baseball outside of Granville.

Tierney was selected as secretary of the New York Giants in September of 1921, replacing Joseph D. O’Brien. Tierney had been familiar with many of the players, and was well acquainted with the Giants’ owning triumvirate of C.A. Stoneham, John McGraw and Francis McQuade, who had bought a majority of shares of the club’s ownership in 1919.

In 1927, Mel Ott was signed to the Giants; he went on to have a successful and famed career in baseball with the Giants. Tierney considered the signing of Ott to be the finest moment of his time with the Giants.

Tierney did not forget his Granville connections. He brought some of the outstanding baseball players of the time to Granville during the off season. The players rented a cottage on Lake St. Catherine, and would come to Granville and spend time on Main Street. These players included Jake Daubert, Heinie Groh, Louis McCarthy and Red Murray; all of them were well-known baseball players in their time.

The players usually met up at the Craig Weir cigar store and newsroom; this was in an old wooden building that was located then on the site of the vacant storefront to the east of the present Slate Town Brewing Company.

Jim Tierney was held in high enough regard by the professional baseball community that in February of 1930, his opinion was sought by a reporter of the New York Evening Post. The issue at hand was the player-salary problem. Tierney noted that baseball salaries are three times as large as they were 40 years ago, but the admission prices at the parks have remained the same, and went on to say that if fans and the papers would combine with owners in an agreement to have the prices at the gates increased, then the players could get more money and all owners a fair return.

By the mid-1930s, of the triumvirate of Giants’ owners mentioned above, only C.A. Stoneham remained firmly connected to the club. Stoneham made plans for his son Horace to succeed him as owner of the Giants. It was well known that Tierney and Horace Stoneham did not like each other, and there was a consensus among baseball people that Tierney would resign when the younger Stoneham took over and became owner of the Giants.

C. A. Stoneham passed away in January of 1936. Jim Tierney tendered his resignation as secretary of the New York Giants soon after, and returned to Granville. He passed away Dec. 30, 1958, at a rest home in Troy. By this time, the Giants had moved out of New York City to the West Coast; they have been known since then as the San Francisco Giants.

Jim Tierney is the only Granvillian to have held a high-ranking position within the management of a major league baseball team. 

Granville Then & Now – May 6, 2021

Repaving work reveals former brick surface

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The construction work on State Route 149 through the village of Granville has become the talk of the town. Besides presenting both the promise of a smooth, newly paved thoroughfare through the village, and in the meantime a bumpy, groove-pavement one, it has also inspired other conversation.

The milling work, which took off the old top layer of pavement for replacement, uncovered an older layer of pavement. In some places, however, the pavement was sufficiently thin to allow for the uncovering of brick pavement.

The brick layer originated with the first pavement project in the village of Granville. Until that time, all the streets of the village had been dirt roads.

The village board initiated the effort during February of 1913. The board passed a resolution, requesting that the state Department of Highways improve the state highway through the village of Granville. This highway followed today’s Route 149 up to the corner with North Street, then went up North Street to the village line; East Main Street was a village-owned highway in 1913. Correspondence and visits ensued.

The village originally asked for a concrete pavement with a 16-foot width for most sections. The state’s tentative plans, which were presented to the village board in April, used bituminous macadam as the paving material instead.

Under the state’s 1909 highway law, the village board could request alterations to the highway project to better suit their needs. The board passed a resolution at their May 4, 1913 meeting to that effect. The highway specifications were described in detail by the board, which asked for a minimum of 20-feet width, curbing in some sections, and most importantly, the use of brick as paving material. The village noted in the resolution that they would pay the difference in cost between the price of the project with the brick pavement, and that of the state’s original proposal that would have built a 16-foot-wide road of bituminous macadam.

The village also requested that the connections to side streets and cross streets be made of brick, and meet with the curb lines of the streets. In addition, the resolution included a provision that would have made a “street railroad” have to pave the space between their tracks, and two feet from each side of the tracks.

The state was slow to respond to the request to alter the project for the brick pavement and wider road. In the coming months, the village board passed a resolution to send the State Commissioner of Highways a petition requesting he modify the plans for improving the state highway to reflect the requested width, wider than that originally proposed by the state.

By July, the state had evidently accepted the village board’s request. Mark Nelson of the State Highway Commission appeared before the board at its July 23 meeting, with maps and plans of the proposed project, with brick pavement.

In July, the state Department of Highways sent more information regarding the project. The state highway along village streets in Granville, then internally designated with parts as numbers 103 and 104, would become a single highway, numbered 5404. The state also “sent the bill” to the village regarding the excess cost that the village, in its May 4 resolution, had said it would pay; the cost would be $30,700.

While the state would send out the bids and oversee the construction, the village had to pay a share of the bill. The board passed a resolution, at a special meeting held July 24, to put a proposition to the qualified voters of the village of Granville, asking to borrow $30,700, and sell bonds, for the purpose of paying the village’s share of cost of constructing the brick pavement on the state highway through the village. Originally, the vote was to be held on Aug. 5, but the village board rescinded the original date on Aug. 2, and instead decided for Aug. 18. The vote was held on Aug. 18, 1913, at the Henry Hose firehouse on Church Street. The proposition passed, 196 yes to 48 no votes, and 5 spoiled votes; 249 voted in all.

Construction started on Quaker Street at the south incorporation line. Construction wrapped up on the laying of brick pavement on North Street in August of 1914. The total cost of the project was $77,684.89, with the state paying for $48,537.44.

The village was asked to approve of the work done on the brick pavement by the firm of Callanan and Prescott, under the auspices of the state Highway Department. The village board inspected the work with an engineer, and passed a resolution approving the work at its September 1914 meeting.

East Main Street, while today a part of State Route 149, was not a state highway in 1914. The village board wanted this important thoroughfare to be improved to brick pavement as were being done to Quaker, West Main, Main, and North Streets. The village board discussed this matter at its May 4, 1914 meeting. The village attempted to ask the state for assistance in paving the street, as they were doing with those streets, state highway 5404. This time, the state Highway Department instead said they would only do a certain width, and not that specified by the village. Not wanting the street to be of inferior quality to the other brick paved streets, the village decided to embark on paving East Main Street under its own authority.

The village board passed a resolution at its Aug. 4 meeting to put a proposition to the qualified voters of the Village of Granville, asking to borrow $18,000, and sell bonds, for the purpose of paying for the construction of brick pavement on East Main Street. The vote was held on Aug. 18, 1914. The proposition passed, 189 yes to 60 no votes, and a single spoiled vote; 250 voted in all.

The bids for bonds and those for the construction contract were opened at the Sept. 5 meeting. For the bonds, the Granville National Bank’s bid of $18,250 was accepted. For the contract, the bid of the John B. Dower company of Ballston Spa, $15,853.50, was accepted.

An article in the Aug. 21, 1914 issue of the Sentinel on the passing of the East Main Street paving proposition stated that “the entire job will be completed and in use by Nov. 15. Arrangements will be made to care for the traffic so as to cause as little inconvenience as possible.”

Then as now, Quaker, West Main, Main, East Main and North Streets were among the busiest streets in Granville. The Aug. 21, 1914 article also noted that “with the most used and worst conditioned roads permanently improved, the board will be in a position to give attention to the betterment of the outlying streets. Every thoroughfare in the village should be in good shape for traffic and attractive in appearance, thus benefiting the users and advertising the town.” Granville would give attention to those roads, but it would not be until 1955 that all the village streets were paved.

The brick pavement was the look of the main streets for more than 30 years. However, by the late 1930s, it had begun to show wear; the shoulders of Main Street were paved over with asphalt. Main Street and East Main Street were paved over in October of 1946. West Main Street and North Street were paved by the early 1950s. Quaker Street was paved over by 1955. By this time, East Main Street was a state highway as well. After the Route 22 Granville bypass was built in 1961, Route 149 was designated to the current streets through the village.

Route 149 was repaved at least a few times since 1961, most recently in 1998. The milling system was used then as was done last month, and the brick pavement resurfaced then as well.

The brick pavement layer peeking through the milled pavement is a reminder of road improvement projects of over a century ago, when most roads were unpaved dirt roads. The bricks won’t be seen for much longer, however. Route 149 paving will resume, and if weather permits, it should be done in a little over a week’s time. The bricks will then be covered once more, until Route 149 is repaved again, the surface milled, and the brick revealed again. 

Granville Then & Now – May 27, 2021

World War II memorial still stands to honor vets

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

As Memorial Day approaches, the people of Granville, and other communities across the United States will remember and look back upon those from their communities who served our country, whether in time of war or other times, and have either passed on or given the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country.

Over the years, monuments have been made honoring those who served. This year, this column focuses its attention on the World War II monument that stands in front of the Granville High School on Quaker Street in the Village of Granville.

The monument had its roots in the wartime honor rolls, and the quest for an honor roll began almost as soon as the war had begun. The effort was initiated by Nan Manchester, then publisher of the Granville Sentinel. In late February of 1941, she requested the families of those who were serving in the armed forces to send their names to the Sentinel. A column would be set aside every week, until the end of the war, with the names printed. Each name would be accompanied by the branch of the armed forces. The rank, however, would be omitted, “as no distinction will be made on the Honor Roll since all are serving for God and Country.” The first Sentinel Honor Roll was printed in the February 26, 1941 issue, with more than 40 names.

In March a movement began to erect a physical honor roll for those serving in World War II. The American Legion took the initiative in planning the roll. The main board measured about 7 feet tall by 14 feet wide, with “For God and Country” inscribed at the top of the roll, and it would be constructed by the N.Y.A. center in the area. Names were borrowed from the Sentinel Honor Roll, and those who had not submitted names were encouraged to send them to the Sentinel or to Bert Yurdin’s store.

The N.Y.A. had completed the building of the honor roll board by late August. The names at the time were being stenciled onto the individual planks. It was planned at the time to place the honor roll once this stage was finished.

There was disagreement over where the honor roll should be located. Early consideration was to place the monument on the triangle at the corner of West Main Street and Quaker Street. This was objected by others on the basis that there was too much traffic going by in that area, and people wouldn’t be able to read the honor roll. After several discussions, and a public meeting in late September, it was decided to instead place the monument on the Mancini property on Main Street; this was the vacant lot next to the Barnard Brothers store.

The Honor Roll was placed in late November. The dedication ceremony was held Nov. 22. At this time, the Honor Roll had 302 names. James N. Mason was the master of ceremonies. By 1944, the honor roll board had been moved to the green at the corner of Main and North Streets, next to the Village hall. At the end of World War II, the honor roll had the names of about 700 from Granville who served in the war.

The drive for a permanent World War II memorial began in early 1946, with Morris Rote-Rosen. He advocated in favor of a memorial in his “Main Street” column.

As soon as his opinion was printed there were objections to the idea. Rote-Rosen noted in “Main Street” of March 28, 1946 that someone had asked “What’s the matter with the bank clock?” Rote-Rosen’s response was that he had meant “something permanent with the names of the boys inscribed on it (not forgetting our girls) … The wooden Honor Roll board has about served its purpose … and the bank clock still remains a memorial to our boys who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of our country … One has nothing to do with the other…. unless more than 700 names are inscribed on something more enduring than wood those who served our country in its greatest peril will soon be forgotten.”

Rote-Rosen’s idea would not be seriously considered until 1948. In the meantime, there was talk by the village board of moving the wooden honor roll. It was suggested at the April meeting that the triangle lot at the corner of West Main and Quaker Streets was open if it was necessary to move.

At the May meetings of the American Legion and the VFW, each organization resolved to oppose moving the wooden honor roll. At one of the meetings, a veteran said, “The board may not mean anything to those who wish to move it and get it out of the way, but to me it stands for my buddies who served with me and who were killed over in the Pacific and in Europe and the board should remain where it is.”

Morris Rote-Rosen made a formal proposal of a World War II memorial to Granville’s American Legion and VFW posts at their meetings during May 1948. Both veterans groups accepted the proposal.

Rote-Rosen’s proposal was to have seven slate stones of different colors in a row, with plaques affixed to the stones. He also produced a quote from Balch Brothers and West Company of Syracuse, which could furnish the tablets for $2,100.

A committee was formed in June of 1948, with equal representation of both veterans organizations; Rote-Rosen was appointed chairman.

The slate stones were acquired from the Granville area slate companies in July of 1948. The companies that furnished stones were Hugh G. Williams, clear purple; Evans Brothers, gray black; Tatko Brothers, red, unfading green; Taran Brothers of North Poultney, unfading mottled gray; Joe Williams and Edward Harrington, mottled purple; David Morris, dark sea green.

The stones were then delivered over the months of September through November to the Carpenter Slate Mill in Fair Haven, Vt., which milled and polished the stones, for $25 per stone.

The fundraising campaign was organized in September of 1948 and was launched on Oct. 15. Appeals for donations appeared in the Sentinel and were sent in the mail. The goal was $3,000.

The fundraising progressed quickly; by early November, it had reached $800, and by Nov. 11, it was over $1,500. The fundraising campaign was concluded by Dec. 1, and just over $3000 had been raised.

The date for the dedication of the memorial was announced to be May 30, 1949. The order for the bronze tablets was placed on December 7, 1948. The bronze tablets would contain 694 names in total.

Funds contributed in early December after the conclusion of the fundraise brought the total up to $3,384.75. The cost of the tablets and stones totaled $2,275, with the remaining $1,109.75 to be spent on building concrete base and landscaping.

Plans for the dedicatory exercises were decided upon by the committee in February of 1949. Even with the conclusion of the fundraiser, money trickled in; by the end of March, the total had climbed to $3,460.75. There were 640 contributors, as well as 100 school children who raised about $75.

Another bronze plaque was ordered, listing the names of the slate manufacturers who contributed the slate stones for the monument.

The committee finalized the plans for the ceremonies on April 11. The finished stones and bronze tablets arrived in Granville by the end of April.

The dedication ceremonies were held on May 30, 1949. The parade began at 10 a.m. on Main Street; the Sons of Union Veterans gave up their Civil War ceremony to focus on the World War II memorial. The parade arrived at the monument site on the front lawn of the Granville High School, about 10:30 a.m. The Granville Town Band played “America” and Rev. Jasper Steele of the Granville Methodist Church gave the invocation. Chairman Morris Rote-Rosen gave a speech and was followed by several other dignitaries. It was noted that the 23 Gold Star names were marked with a star next to each name. This was followed by a union service at the Peniel Presbyterian Church, and ceremonies at the World War I and Civil War monuments.

Granville’s World War II memorial still stands in front of the Granville High School on Quaker Street in the Village of Granville, the same place it was assembled in 1949. Today it is flanked to the sides by the Korean War and Vietnam War memorials. If you haven’t seen the World War II memorial, check it out this Memorial Day weekend. 

Granville Then & Now – June 3, 2021

Commemorating Memorial Day

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

Recent weeks have been nice and warm, but this last weekend was colder, cloudy and at times rainy. On Memorial Day the clouds began to break but did not go away. The cool day did not stop Granville from commemorating Memorial Day.

Granville Post 323, American Legion and the Legion Auxiliary performed ceremonies at Veterans Memorial Park, the World War II memorial in front of the school, the memorial behind the school near the pine-tree-lined Memorial Lane to those who gave their all in World War II, at the Memorial Clock and at the Main Street bridge.

An effort to salvage a Memorial Day parade was started the week before, and cooperation with the Granville Police Department for traffic control was secured by that Friday. The parade started at 10 a.m. The Falvey-Fringi VFW Post 1653 led the parade, followed by a few floats, the Granville Engine and Hose Co., the Granville Rescue Squad, the Penrhyn Engine and Hose Co. of Middle Granville, the North Granville Hose Co. and the Hampton Volunteer Fire Company. The parade was well attended for its smaller size. The parade may have been shorter than those in past years, but a short parade is better than no parade. Thank you to all who commemorated and remembered those who gave their all on Memorial Day.

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The Slate Valley Military and Honor Banner Project has progressed nicely. The first banners were hung on May 17, along West Main Street and Main Street. More banners have been hung since then, on utility poles on Quaker Street and East Main Street. Charlie King and the Granville Village DPW have done the work of hanging the banners on the poles. Banners were also hung in Hampton last week, near the town hall on Route 22A, and near the Hampton Post Office on County Route 18.

The banners were made by Military Tribute Banners of Florida. The banners are styled in an attractive design. On the front side, a photo of the service member is centered. Their name, length of service (or note of being in active service), and branch of armed forces are beneath the photo. At the top of the banner is a blue area with text reading “The Slate Valley Salutes Our Military”. The bottom has another blue area with “Proudly Honored by a Grateful Community,” beneath which are the seals of the five branches of the armed forces. On the back side, which is identical on every banner, there is a navy blue band near the top, with the seals of the five branches as at the bottom of the front side. The central section, backed on white, reads “To all of our veterans, active-duty military, and those preparing today to serve our nation tomorrow, thank you.” This is followed by the names of Granville’s veterans organizations: the Granville Post 323 of the American Legion, and the Falvey-Fringi Post 1653, VFW. Another band of navy blue spans the banner’s back near the bottom, with the text “Giving honor to whom honor is due.”

The idea of the banner project originated with Charlie King, who has successfully made this idea come to fruition. The Granville Post 323, American Legion and the Falvey-Fringi Post 1653, Veterans of Foreign Wars, also are involved in the project. It is fortunate to see there are still “live wires” in Granville, who have the dedication, ethic and determination to set their sight on a beneficial goal and see it through to completion.

The banners will be up until mid-June, after which they will be taken down until late October for Veterans Day. In future years, the banners will be hung for a few weeks before and after Memorial Day and Veterans Day. This is being done in order to prolong the life of the banners. More banners have been ordered; if a banner hasn’t been put up yet, it will be hung for Veterans Day. Banners may still be purchased for $150; checks should be made payable to the Granville Post 323, American Legion.

The Granville area has at long last joined those towns in America that have honored those who have served or are serving in the military with banners. Thank you to all who are involved with this project.

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May 19 was a day of change in New York. After much suspense, in early May the decision was made for several changes to pandemic-related restrictions in New York State to be relaxed on that day. Most indoors businesses can return to full capacity, including restaurants, bars and stores, although some businesses will still be restricted in capacity for the time being. Perhaps the most major change was that around regulations regarding the wearing of masks. Locally, little difference was seen in business operations, aside from adjacent tables and booths being used in restaurants and diners, and changes relating to masks, or the absence thereof. on some people.

The capacity changes meant the end of an era that was irksome to some in this area: one-way shopping at the Granville Price Chopper. Since last April, there were signs on the aisle sides and on the floor at entrances to aisles noting “One Way” and “Wrong Way.” The entrances and exits at the front of the store were similarly affected. The west entrance door and east exit door were closed off, with “Entrance Only” and “Exit Only” signs placed in the appropriate places. The closed doors also had the arrow entrance sticker covered with the “Do Not Enter” sticker. During the time these signs were in use, there were many occurrences where shoppers went the “wrong way” down aisles. Reportedly there were a few times where shoppers nearly walked into the closed entrance and exit doors.

The one-way signs and changes were swiftly reversed on May 19. The markers and signs were removed from the aisles. The deactivated entrance and exit doors were turned back on and signs corrected, and now work as they did prior to last year. It remains unclear whether the aisle “traffic” signs actually worked. Shoppers have already adjusted back to entering, exiting and going down aisles as they please. 

Granville Then & Now – June 10, 2021

Church Street bridge project progressing

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

A month has passed since the Fall II school sports season ended, and that of spring commenced, but one of Granville’s fall teams in particular is still receiving praise and accolades now. Granville’s varsity field hockey team did well, finishing with a record of 9-1. The team is co-champions in the Adirondack-Wasaren League with the Hoosick Falls team. While Granville lost the first matchup, the team was able to get back with the second matchup. The game’s main four quarters concluded with the score remaining 0-0; the game continued into the first overtime. Near the end, Granville played an offensive corner. Jenna Tooley got the ball to Haley Corlew, who scored, giving Granville a win against Hoosick Falls, their second season with such a win. Granville went on to win its final game of the season against Cambridge-Salem.

There have been awards and recognition. Besides being Adirondack-Wasaren League co-champions, the team was named a Scholar Athlete Team, with several players named scholar athletes. Players were also named to the Fall II Field Hockey All-Star teams. Haley Corlew, Katie McEachron, Raegan Swain and Lexyss Zovistoski were named to the first team; Haylie Barber, Jenna Tooley and Natalie Williams were named to the second team. Lexyss Zovistoski was also named to the New York State field hockey team.

The Granville varsity field hockey team played well this season and should be commended for its teamwork and effort. In recent years, coach Katie Barber has built up the program to a new powerhouse in the league. Congratulations to the Granville Lady Horde varsity field hockey team on a great season. Granville should be proud of its strong field hockey program.

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Classic vintage cars are the mainstay of Granville’s famed Autumn Leaves Car Show, which traditionally has been held in September since the late 1980s. While classic cars appearing in Granville in September would not be considered out of the ordinary, classic cars appearing at other times of the year always catch the eye.

One such occurrence was on the morning of May 17, 1999, when more than 50 classic cars came through Main Street. These cars were participating in a charity event called the New England 1000. None of the cars were new, even for 1999; the model years ranged from 1932 to 1972. The tour was a 1,000-mile-long loop through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. A participant who was interviewed by a Sentinel reporter at the time noted that “Some drivers come from as far away as California and Texas to travel New England’s country roads…”

Two Granville residents, Cheryl Hayes and Bob Spaulding, noticed something about one of the parked cars: a blue convertible with a white stripe, with a Tennessee license plate marked “YEE HAW.” Spaulding recognized the license plate and realized the car belonged to country music singer Alan Jackson; he had seen the plate in one of Jackson’s music videos. They talked with Jackson for a time and took a picture with him. Jackson wore a “disguise” of sunglasses and a baseball cap. He went into Scotties to get refreshments, and no one recognized him. Outside, a few others did recognize him, and managed to get autographs. Jackson then returned to his car and drove off to continue on the tour.

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The beginning of the Church Street bridge replacement project is at last in view. The project has been in planning by Washington County since before it was publicly announced in the spring of 2019. Signs went up on at each end of the bridge on the week of May 24 noting that the bridge would close on June 16 for replacement. The right of way clearance has not been fully finished; as of May 27, there were still a few utility lines crossing the Mettowee River and the bridge. The 34 Church Street building will also be demolished.

The replacement work is planned to take a couple of months. Those who shop at area businesses near the bridge are reminded that the businesses will still be operating as usual during the bridge construction and can be accessed by other streets.

The Church Street bridge replacement will change traffic patterns in Granville for the duration of the project. The current bridge, built in 1920, has been used for a century to cross the Mettowee River at this spot, but its time is nearly done. Once the project is finished, Granville will gain a modern bridge that will be used for many years to come and will be an attractive part of Granville’s infrastructure.

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As part of the bridge replacement project, the 34 Church Street building, which sits next to the retaining wall on the west side of the bridge’s north approach, was demolished on Monday, June 7. An asbestos abatement crew worked on the building in late May, concluding their work by May 27.

The 34 Church Street building was built before 1920, and after the present bridge was built the building was raised to be level with the new roadway. The room on the main floor closest to the river was remodeled into a store. The 1921 Granville Directory noted the building to have a grocery and barber shop operated by Joseph Thomas. The barber shop was later closed. His son Frank eventually took over this merchant business, which earned him the nickname of “Murchie.” By 1946 he had closed the grocery store and opened a bar.

Around 1952, the bar was sold to Michael Gilbert, who was known to many as “Mickey.” Gilbert named the bar the Knotty Pine Tavern. As the years passed, the bar accumulated sports memorabilia from Granville and others that Granville graduates brought back from their colleges. In a way, it was one of the earliest establishments in the vicinity that could have been considered a sports bar. The bar closed in the 1980s.

Since the 1990s, the building has been vacant and in the intervening years has deteriorated. The former tavern building was acquired by Washington County in late 2017 in preparation for the bridge replacement. The county had the property cleared of any contents soon after taking ownership; the tavern’s memorabilia was removed at this time.

Arrangements were negotiated between several municipalities to allow for the Granville Engine and Hose Company to use the building for training purposes. This began on June 2; Church Street at the bridge is blocked off every evening. The Granville fire company has been joined on some nights by other local emergency services. The municipalities should be commended for allowing this rare opportunity to train for emergencies using a building soon to-be-gone. The nightly emergency training continued until the county demolished the building.

The 34 Church Street building has been demolished: This will be received well by those who have had concerns about the building, whether in aesthetic terms as an ill-maintained unsightly eyesore, or in safety terms due to concerns of collapse. Those who remembered the Knotty Pine and “Mickey” may lament the loss of the building. Granville will gain a modern bridge crossing on Church Street when construction has concluded. 

Granville Then & Now – June 17, 2021

Removal of Church Street buildings allows improved view of Mettowee

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The closing of the Church Street crossing of the Mettowee River was delayed on Monday, to give time for Verizon to move its utility lines. The bridge will then be closed. Due to the delay, the project completion timetable has shifted to mid-October. The new bridge will be an arch bridge, with a similar appearance to the present, soon-to-be-removed bridge. The new bridge will not have a sidewalk on its east side. At the completion of the Church Street bridge replacement project, Granville will have a modern bridge crossing of the Mettowee River that will last for many years.

Covered signs were placed on Monday by Washington County in several important places in and around the village. When the bridge is closed, the signs will be revealed. Most of the signs will warn that the Church Street bridge is closed, although some will have the signed detour.

The long anticipated demolition of the 34 Church Street building occurred last Monday, June 7. Demolition work started after 8 a.m., and the building was reduced to a pile of rubble and used lumber by 10:30 a.m. The pile was cleared away on Tuesday. By Friday, the cellar hole of the building had been filled in, and the foundation dismantled.

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Paving road work is ongoing in this area. The paving of Route 149 west of Fort Ann and in the Village of Granville excepting Main Street has concluded. Work is still ongoing for the section between Route 4 in Kingsbury and Route 40 in Hartford.

Vermont’s Agency of Transportation also has begun paving projects. Two sections of Route 149 in Vermont were paved last week, with the exception of the wide shoulder section near Newmont Slate. Route 30 was paved last week from Blossom’s Corners through Wells to a point near Wellsmere Farm, where the speed limit changes to 50 mph north of that spot. There were patches made a couple of years ago on Route 149, which had uneven bumps at the transition to the patch pavement; this has been fixed with the new pavement. The only other paving project in Vermont near the Granville area is the paving of the exit and entrance ramps on the Route 4 freeway between Fair Haven and Rutland.

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The removal of the 34 Church Street bridge cleared the last of the buildings that were between Water Street and the Mettowee River. The longhouses and other buildings on the west part of Water Street and lower River Street were removed in the late 1980s, and the west end of the street eventually became the site of the Slate Valley Museum.

The 3 and 7 Water Street buildings were demolished in early 2020. The 1 Water Street building that was at the corner of Church Street and Water Street, along with the 5 Water Street building that was located between the two buildings demolished last year, was demolished before 2000.

The appearance of this part of the village has changed dramatically since the 1980s. Most of the demolished buildings on Water Street, including the three demolished in the past couple of years, were run-down and in a deteriorated condition. The removal of the buildings now allows for an improved view of the Mettowee River.

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The outlook of the pandemic has improved in the recent weeks. Restrictions were relaxed last month in both New York and Vermont. Vermont has set a goal of 80% vaccinated before lifting all restrictions, and from reports is near the “finish line” of getting to 80%. New York has not set an equivalent goal at this time, but progress is being made in that direction. Even New York City, which was badly affected has begun to reopen bars and restaurants and other venues.

In the Granville area, the march back to normalcy is ongoing as well. Confidence can be seen in new businesses planning or preparing to open, and presently operating businesses expanding their open hours. While expanding hours for the summer time was common in past years, the impact of the pandemic shutdowns and restrictions last year meant that hours were curtailed when the restrictions began, and those businesses that stayed open usually did not expand hours.

Granville’s famed Christmas decorative lights were turned back on after the Christmas holiday season in March 2020 as a symbol of solidarity during the early days of the pandemic. Excepting the occasional power outage, the lights were on from March 2020 through February 2021. Since then, some buildings have had their decorative lights turned off, and this process has continued until now, where most of the building decorative lights have been turned off.

The choice to turn off or keep the lights on was at the discretion of the building owners. Nevertheless, the turning off of the decorative building lights and businesses opening or expanding hours are signs that Granville – and everywhere – is coming back from the pandemic. May the rest of the year 2021 be busy and successful for the Granville area. 

Granville Then & Now – July 29, 2021 – Granville Masons History, Part 1: The first hundred years

Granville Masons: The first hundred years

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

Granville Lodge No. 55, F. & A.M., is among the oldest institutions in the area. It is one of the very few entities in the town of Granville that dates from the 18th century. This year is the lodge’s 225th anniversary.

The earliest Granville area residents to enter Freemasonry joined the lodge in Kingsbury, Livingston Lodge No. 28, when it was chartered in 1793. Granville’s prominent figures trekked to attend meetings at Kingsbury. There were already paths and trails up and down and across the county by this time, but the condition of these thoroughfares was far from the standards of even the dirt roads that remain today in the county.

Granville’s Freemasons wanted their own lodge. They petitioned to the Grand Lodge of New York for a charter for a Masonic Lodge to be granted to them. The Granville petitioners requested the name of Liberty Lodge, and for designation of the lodge leaders; the petition was signed on Oct. 5, 1796. The petitioning Granville Masons who signed were Joseph Prindal, Zebulon R. Shipherd, W. Huggins, Aron Kellogg, Alvin Lampson, Daniel Earl, Daniel Major, Thomas Dewey, Daniel Burroughs, Thomas Soper and Levi Thompson.

Livingston Lodge was asked to recommend the Granville lodge; the Kingsbury area-based members believed that having another lodge would benefit Washington County. They sent a recommendation to the Grand Lodge of New York, for both the Liberty Lodge and their designation of lodge leaders.

The Granville Masons’ petition was presented to the Grand Lodge on Dec. 7, 1796. A warrant was granted to the Granville Masons to erect and hold a lodge in Granville, with name and number Liberty Lodge, No. 55. Zebulon Shipherd was the first master, William Huggins was the first senior warden and Abram Bishop the first junior warden.

Meetings were initially held at the house of Elijah White in North Granville. White built a hotel there in 1800 and set aside a room for lodge meetings, known as Masons’ Hall.

Liberty Lodge grew well in its early years. Livingston Lodge members from the Granville area were given dimits to join their new home lodge. There soon were 80 members on the roster.

Money was scarce in Granville in those early days; commerce was usually conducted by barter and trade. Members paid their petition fees and lodge dues with notes, basically signed and supported IOUs. The lodge soon found itself in financial trouble from the use of notes. Liberty Lodge couldn’t send its own dues to the Grand Lodge in proper time.

Members began to worry that the lodge would lose good standing with the Grand Lodge. Committees were formed in 1800 to find a solution, but nothing came of it then. Salem Town looked over the finances in 1806 and found multiple issues, particularly condemning the note system and the lack of proper treasurer’s records.

The lodge decided to send Town to the Grand Lodge to pay a sum, surrender the Liberty Lodge charter, and request a new charter to reorganize the lodge, keeping the old number of 55. Town attended the Grand Lodge on Sept. 3, 1806. The Grand Lodge officers received the lodge’s solution well. Town offered $40 to settle the debts. A petition was also presented by Town to the Grand Lodge, admitting faults and requesting the new lodge to be Granville Lodge No. 55. The request was accepted, and the Granville Lodge was reorganized with the new charter.

In January 1808, the lodge decided to meet for a year at the house of Daniel Roberts in North Granville. They continued meeting at White’s hotel until February 1809, first meeting at the Roberts house the following month. The lodge meetings moved again in October to the house of Justin Kellogg. In 1811, meetings moved to Orla Hall’s house. The lodge returned to Roberts’ house later that year, but moved again in April 1812 to Samuel Hough’s. In April 1813 the lodge met at the house of Elijah White, and later that year at T. Freeman’s. In 1814, the lodge moved to the house of Ira Curtis. In May 1814, the lodge decided to hold meetings at the house of George Marriner, an innkeeper. The lodge moved around the North Granville area for the rest of 1814, holding the July meeting at T. Freeman’s, Marriner’s in August and Ira Curtis’s in September.

By 1815, lodge meetings were held at Stiles’ Hall. The Granville Lodge decided at its meeting of Oct. 17, 1815, to seek permanent quarters for the lodge, with consideration to building a Masonic temple. The building committee comprised Martin Lee, Salem Town, Bishop Cramer, Orla Hall and Titus A. Cook; they would look into building a lodge. Two locations were considered: the land of Ira Hall on the Middle Granville road (now called County Route 24) or a building at “the corners,” the center of the present-day Village of Granville.

In January 1816, it was reported that member Ira Hall had offered to donate land for a building. The committee noted that the cost for a brick building to their needs would be $1,600. The lodge voted in May 1816 to go ahead with plans to build.

Ira Hall died in 1816 and left provisions in his will to give land to the Masons. One acre adjacent to the Isaac Hollister farm was deeded. It was read at the lodge meeting of September 1817. The land could either be used for a Masonic temple or a Masonic burying ground. Dr. Hall’s family would have the right to be buried there as well if used as a cemetery. If the land was used for a Masonic temple, Hall not only required allowance of adjacent farmers to use the Masonic land as turning ground for sheep and cattle, but still asked for burying grounds for Hall and his heirs and those of adjacent land owners. Realizing this left little room for a temple, the Masons decided to make the land a burial ground. It would be well over a century before the Granville Masons would get their own building for a temple.

The Masons met at Stiles’ Hall through January of 1818. From February to November 1818, the lodge met at the house of Jonathan Todd. The lodge moved meetings to Ketchel Reed’s house in December 1818. The lodge moved again to the home of Ephraim Munson, first meeting there in November 1819.

The William Morgan episode, caused by a man who wished to discredit Freemasonry, electrified anti-Masonic elements in 1826. Lodge numbers severely declined during that time. Many lodges stopped holding meetings, and some turned in their charters. Granville Lodge No. 55 suspended meetings, but did not surrender its charter.

Granville Masons began efforts to revive the lodge in March 1851. The Grand Master authorized the revival of the lodge in July, keeping the Granville Lodge name but with the new number of 220. In December, members started a movement to get the old lodge number back; In June 1852, the Grand Lodge passed a resolution changing the number of Granville Lodge No. 220 to No. 55.

The lodge resumed meeting in North Granville after its revival. In January of 1860, the lodge began to look into moving to Middle Granville, passing a resolution requesting permission to move there. Middle Granville was becoming a “boom town” then, with the railroad and the slate industry. In January of 1861, the lodge decided its Middle Granville location would be Cramer’s Hall, at the southeast corner of the Middle Granville bridge.

In February 1861, the lodge began to alternate holding meetings in North Granville and Middle Granville for the convenience of its members. There were two competing factions of members regarding lodge location: those who wanted it to remain in North Granville and those who wanted it permanently moved to Middle Granville. The division was heated, and the topic regularly discussed. In May 1863, the lodge decided to make the move to Middle Granville permanent. In late 1863, the lodge decided upon moving to the upper floor of the C.H. Bull store, at the northwest corner of the Middle Granville road and what is now known as Cove Road. The new lodge rooms in the Bull building were dedicated Dec. 28, 1863.

The members of the Granville Lodge from the North Granville area wanted the lodge returned there, or at least return to alternating meeting locations. The Grand Lodge decreed in July 1864 that Granville Lodge No. 55 must meet in Middle Granville until the next annual grand lodge communication; the request was not granted.

The meeting schedule was changed in January 1866 to the first and third Wednesdays of each month; this schedule remained for over a century.

In January 1869, the lodge decided to find larger rooms. Several locations were considered. The Masons wanted to rent a building for a term of at least 10 years. The lodge rooms would be on the third floor, with dimensions of at least 37 by 35 feet, a ceiling of at least 11 feet high and rent of $150 a year or less.

Some members felt that if the Masons were to move, it would be best to move to Granville Corners, today known as the Village of Granville; others wanted to stay in Middle Granville. Deliverance Rogers offered a room to the Masons at Granville. C.H. Bull offered to make improvements to their rooms in his building. The final vote was made in January 1871; the Masons would continue to meet in the C.H. Bull building for five years, providing he make improvements and add two more rooms.

The first Granville chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star was formed in 1870, named the Lily of the Valley, No. 17. It initially met in the E. Guilder block (a building since demolished, known years later as the Rowan building) before the Granville Lodge voted later in the year to let the O.E.S. chapter meet in their rooms. The first Worthy Matron was Mrs. David Morgan and the first Worthy Patron was Dr. Safford Reynolds. There were about 25 charter members; interest waned, and the charter was given up a few years later.

Deliverance Rogers was persistent with his offer of a room for the lodge at Granville Corners. The May 1873 meeting concluded with a resolution to stay in Middle Granville for the time being. The lodge decided in favor of moving to Granville in August. The mindset was that since the population growth had shifted from Middle Granville to Granville, the latter location would be better suited. The room of Deliverance Rogers was rejected due to its small size. The new rooms would be in the third story of the new building erected by Theodore Getty and Bernhardt Gross at the corner of Main and Church Streets.

Two committees were formed to look into the issue of whether it would be best to move to Granville or find other rooms in Middle Granville. Consideration was given to repairing the Bull building or moving to the Guilder building, but both were rejected. At the Nov. 19, 1873 meeting, members voted 49 to 10 in favor of moving to Granville over moving to the Guilder building. The Grand Lodge issued dispensation to allow the move; the lodge received it Dec. 3.

The first meeting in Granville village was held March 4, 1874. The Gross and Getty building was bought by J.S. Warren in 1876; by the early 1890s, it was owned by Joseph Green.

The lodge approved in April 1885, making a request for the return of the original Liberty Lodge charter. The Grand Lodge accepted and sent the original 1796 parchment charter in June.

The Granville Lodge reached its centenary in 1896. A celebration was held on Oct. 21, 1896, commemorating 100 years of the lodge being in Granville. There was a rain storm that day, but the spirits of the attending Masons weren’t dampened by the storm. Master Masons from the surrounding area, and members of the Washington and Killington Commanderies of the Knights Templar, were brought to Granville by train. A large parade was planned but had to be canceled due to the inclement weather. Granville’s two hotels were booked for the Masons; the Master Masons stayed at the Munson House, and the Knights Templar at the Central House.

Events were held at Norton Hall (the Swanson building); so many attended that the hall was crowded, and still more had to be refused admission. Speeches were made by several Masons, including Granville’s James M. Potter, then Lodge Master. A Welsh quartet rendered vocal selections, and the Granville Band played. A grand ball was held that evening; 150 couples attended. A dinner was held afterward for the guests, split between the Central House and the Munson House.

The trains returning the guests to their towns left Granville about midnight. The grand gala celebration of 100 years of Freemasonry in Granville was the talk of the Granville Masons for many years.