The Covenant Presbyterian Church on Fairway Drive occupies a simple, white-walled building near the Bill Library. It’s hard now to imagine that this small, nondescript structure used to be a hub of social activity for people living in town.
Up until 2004, the building used to be home to the Ledyard Grange, part of an organization of farmers that spanned the United States.
The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was founded by Minnesotan Oliver H. Kelley in 1867 as a union-like organization, which would gather farmers and rally for their rights. In Ledyard it was a way for townspeople to share information about farming, socialize and hold events.
The Ledyard Grange got its start in 1907. Over its years of operation, familiar names like Allyn, Holdridge and Lamb filled the ranks.
According to the book "Ledyard and Gales Ferry," which Town Historian Kit Foster wrote for the Ledyard Historical Society, the Grange got its start in the basement of the Congregational Church. By 1922, however, they were looking to expand, and built the Grange Hall as a separate building.
Ed Lamb, who lives and farms on his family’s old property on Lambtown Road, remembers the old Grange Hall well. “It was the building in town.” he said.
Lamb recalled that the Grange Hall was the setting for many plays as it was the only place nearby with a stage. In the days before Ledyard Center School and the expanded Bill Library, it was the biggest thing around.
Every year at Thanksgiving, the Lambs would rent the hall for a family reunion.
When he was growing up, Lamb was a member of the Juvenile Grange, an organization that was similar to the Boy Scouts. The organization taught agricultural methods to the young members, but also gave them a chance to have fun. There was even a Grange Summer Camp in Northwest Connecticut, though Lamb never had a chance to go.
Janet Barnett was another member of the Juvenile Grange. She remembers how the organization would hold dances on Friday nights. She also recalls that the building held Sunday school classes.
According to Foster, the Grange also helped organize the first Ledyard Fair in 1946, along with the Ledyard Center Fire Company and the Congregational Church.
In 1986, Foster wrote, Colonel Ledyard Highway was moved from its old location west of the Bill Library, to the present route, which was directly in the path of the Grange Hall. In order to make room, a flatbed trailer carried the building to its current location on Fairway Drive.
In its later years, the Grange was no longer as much of a key player as it had been in the town. Lamb attended the ceremony in 2004 when the Ledyard Grange returned its charter to the Connecticut Chapter.
As much as he enjoys farming, Lamb's main work has been with General Dynamics and Amtrak. Farming, he said, “doesn’t pay the bills,” a sentiment that could serve as an epitaph for the old Grange.
Though the Grange no longer exists, Lamb said farmers can still find resources through organizations such as the State Department of Agriculture or the DEP. There is an extension service in Norwich and one up at UConn where farmers can have their soil tested, and also get together and talk.
Lamb frequently talks with his two cousins who have farms nearby. As he noted, just because there is no formal agricultural organization in town doesn’t mean that farmers still can’t get together and share advice, as they have always done.
