• The Grange was the first nationwide organization to give women equal voice and vote in all matters—starting in 1867, more than 50 years before the 19th Amendment(!)
• The Grange was a major force behind the push for free mail delivery to rural homes in the late 1800s(!) Before that, many rural residents had to travel miles to pick up their mail.
• Grange halls often served as community schools, libraries, and civic centers, especially in rural towns that lacked public institutions. Across the U.S., Grange halls have been used as polling places, concert venues, theaters, and meeting halls—true centers of community life. Harraseeket Grange has been a polling place, and at one time was the local unemployment center.
• The Grange helped popularize the cooperative movement in the U.S., founding farmer-owned stores, grain elevators, and insurance programs that gave rural communities more economic power. The insurance available to farmers was an important early driver for membership.
• The Grange has always been nonpartisan, advocating for policies that support rural communities and families, not political parties.
• The Grange once used passwords and handshakes to keep railroad spies out of meetings(!) Farmers wanted to protect their plans for fairer freight rates and cooperative buying.
• Maine has some of the oldest Granges in the nation, and Harraseeket Grange #9 has been part of Freeport’s civic life since 1874! The Grange met at the headquarters of the Knights of Pythias (another fraternal organization in town at the time) until the big red barn became available in 1938.
• In its heyday, over 100 people attended meetings twice per month, and dance parties with a wind-up Victrola after meetings were a regular occurrence! Today, a game of Ping Pong might break out!
• Our “Big Red Barn” was formerly a livery stable. Charlie Guptill, a local chicken farmer from the neighborhood, built out the barn to serve as the Grange.
• There are benefits and discounts through Grange Membership. Some are local, some national.
• Learn about Harraseeket Grange #9:
www.freeportharraseeketgrange.com
• Learn more about the National Grange at www.nationalgrange.org