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Mt. Israel
Grange No. 158 was organized on Dec. 22, 1890 when 31 men and women met
at the Grand Army of the Republic Hall (located between the present
Miriam Houston and Polly Heard Jewett homesteads) in Center Sandwich to
elect and install officers.
Meetings were
held at the hall until Dec. 31, 1891 when the Grange voted to buy the
Quaker Meeting House, available because of the dwindling Quaker
membership. The meeting house was built on land donated by Ezera Gould
in 1866. The original Center Sandwich Quaker Church, located about where
Bill and Connie Hoag live, was burned on Nov. 14, 1863 to protest
anti-slavery and anti-war meetings held there.
The building
now called the Grange Hall was remodeled in the early 1890’s by Hacker
Hall of North Sandwich. A second floor was added with other improvements
for its new use.
In 1906
Charles Hoyt, a contractor from Moultonboro, remodeled the building,
making the lower floor into a kitchen and dining room and the upper
floor for Grange meetings and programs. Otis Evans of Moultonboro built
a new chimney.
“The members
of the Grange set aside May 1, 1906, as Grange Day and devoted the
entire day to earning money to pay for the repairs.”
In the
spring of 1924 Severance Bryant “placed at the entrance of the Grange
Hall a substantial platform and steps of cement.” In 1934 new kitchen
cupboards were installed along with a window over the sink, and painting
was done.
Things were
going well in 1956 – a strong, new membership made for lively meetings,
and the interior was decorated “so that both floors are now bright and
pleasant.” Plans were made to paint the building. But in October, a fire
lit in the stove to warm the building for the annual Woman’s Club
rummage sale, caused the ceiling to catch on fire. The Volunteer Fire
Department quickly put it out, but smoke and water had ruined the
rummage sale and the decorating job. Insurance money paid to build a
furnace room, install an oil furnace, make repairs and do repainting.
Building
repairs continued over the years with frequent work parties, but by the
1980’s the Grange had its troubles with dwindling membership. In 1891
the Quaker Church had been available to the Grange because only three
Quakers were active at the Center. By June 1994 the Grange had so few
members it could not maintain the hall, so it sold the building to the
Sandwich Historical Society that month for $10.
In the fall
of 1994 the Historical Society had a new roof put on the Grange Hall and
rebuilt the chimney. In the spring of 1995 the windows were repaired.
The Grange
had its annual picnic in July 1994 and held meetings twice a month from
September to December that year. But finally, on June 17, 1995, members
voted to disband Mt. Israel Grange NO. 158. In 1996 a potluck dinner and
program was put on by the Historical Society in the hall, one of the
first uses of the society's new building.
In 2000 the
Marston House (the Historical Society building) received a new climate
control system, and the lower section of the Grange Hall was used for
storage of materials.
In 2003
several programs were held upstairs in the hall, and some Historical
Society trustee meetings were held there during the summer.
In 2008
Historical Society President Tom Shevenell has revived interest in
making the Grange Hall into a useful resource for the society. Grant
money has been found to install a drainage system around the perimeter
of the building and a vapor barrier in the cellar.
The
Historical Society, owners of the hall, derives it strength from
membership, as did the Quakers and the Grange. The society
encourages everyone to support its mission by becoming a member.
Article written by Geoff Burrows in the Sandwich Historical Society
fall 2008 newsletter.
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