Grange

Durham Grange Hall (1836)

The Methodist Episcopal Church in Durham was organized in 1815, with the South District School House being used for worship. Membership soon dwindled after conflicts within the church, but in 1830, according to William Chauncey Fowler’s History of Durham (1866):

Dr. Chauncey Andrews being in the practice of medicine in the town, secured a place for holding Methodist meetings, and at his own expense fitted up a room in the Academy on the Green and hired a Local Preacher from Middletown by the name of Isham, to preach six Sabbaths, incurring the responsibility of paying him without any orders from the Society or Class. From that time forward Methodist meetings were held regularly on the Sabbath, and the students and Professors from the Wesleyan University at Middletown, supplied the pulpit.

Membership now increased quickly until a Methodist church building was constructed on Main Street in 1836. Durham Methodists joined with Congregationalists in 1941 to form the United Churches of Durham, using the North Congregational Church building for their united worship. The old Greek Revival-style Methodist church then became a Grange Hall and is now used as office space (see also: pdf).

Wethersfield Grange Hall (1898)

Built in 1898, on Main Street in Wethersfield, the town’s Grange Hall served as a meeting place and social center for farmers and their families. The Grange Movement, which began after the Civil War, focused on encouraging farm families to bond together for their own economic and political benefit. The town’s grange was founded in 1890 and received support from the State Grange. The organization hosted numerous programs that provided an active social life for Wethersfield families. Members met at the Old Academy building until 1898, when the Grange Hall was completed. (more…)