The Bartlett Grange No 104 was formed in November 1884, with thirty one charter members.
Some Salisbury citizens will remember the activities of the Bartlett Grange in fairly recent times. It was a central part of the community when it was in existence. It supported rural life, agriculture and culture. It held fairs, dinners and entertainment.
For many years Dot Bartlett was responsible for keeping the Junior Grange very active in our town.
Some of these recounts, from Paul Shaw’s book They Said in Salisbury are posted in the following link.
The Grange building is now commonly known as the Academy Building and is now for used by Salisbury Selectman and Planning Board meetings and other town business.
What is a Grange?
From the following Website:
http://www.nhgrange.org/About%20Us/default.html
A Brief History
The Grange was formed on December 4, 1867. It was originally founded on the teachings of agriculture and was the first organization to give women an equal vote with men (in 1867). New Hampshire’s first Grange was organized in Exeter in 1873. There are now over 75 Granges across the state.
The legacy of the Grange affects your everyday life. Over the last century the Grange has lobbied local, state, and federal government agencies for issues important to communities and individuals. The results of these activities have noticeably impacted the American experience from the youngest child to the largest corporations.
Granges were the warehouse-buying clubs of the nineteenth century. Their influence grew into a nonpartisan political lobby that worked to create laws now known as Granger Laws that are still important in anti-trust litigations today. The Grange is credited for the Rural Free Delivery program of the United States Post Office. Grangers consider education important to the advancement of society and created local libraries to store and share books. Many of these early libraries have become the community public libraries of today.
In New Hampshire, the Grange was active in lobbying for a State Police Force. Agricultural Stations established by New Hampshire Granges evolved into what is today the University System of New Hampshire.
Before cars, telephones, running water, or even electricity, Grangers were fighting for the rights of rural citizens.