Bear Valley Grange Hall | |
![]() The Bear Valley Grange Hall from the northeast | |
Location | County Road 3, Chester Township, Minnesota |
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Coordinates | 44°18′50.5″N92°27′56.4″W / 44.314028°N 92.465667°W Coordinates: 44°18′50.5″N92°27′56.4″W / 44.314028°N 92.465667°W |
Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
Built | 1874 |
Built by | Unknown |
Architectural style | Front-gabled vernacular |
NRHP reference # | 88003089 [1] |
Designated | January 5, 1989 |
The Bear Valley Grange Hall is a historic meeting hall in Chester Township, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1874 for the exclusive use of a local chapter of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, an early farmers' advocacy group and fraternal organization. The chapter folded in the 1880s and the building has been used since as the Chester Town Hall. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 for having local significance in the theme of social history. [2] It was nominated for being the only surviving Grange hall in Wabasha County—and one of only a few in Minnesota—and a rare example of a purpose-built Grange hall, as most chapters met in existing spaces like schools. [3]
The Bear Valley Grange Hall is a one-story wood frame building on a limestone rubble foundation, measuring 40 by 22 feet (12.2 by 6.7 m). The narrow ends are gabled and contain the front and rear exits. This front-gabled form of vernacular architecture was used widely in the American Midwest for churches, commercial buildings, meeting halls, and schools. The front door, on the hall's north end, is centered and flanked by two windows with large wood shutters. There are four similar windows on both of the side walls. The windows and doors are topped by lightly peaked lintel trim with rain caps. There are no decorative elements otherwise. The building is sided with clapboard and consists of a single room. [3]
The hall stands on a slight rise amid agricultural land. [3] It is near the unincorporated community of Bear Valley along Wabasha County Road 3 in Section 24 of Chester Township. [4] The nearest city is Zumbro Falls.
The Order of Patrons of Husbandry was founded by Minnesotan Oliver Hudson Kelley in 1868 as the first national advocacy group for farmers. Envoys spread out across the United States helping local chapters, called "subordinate granges", to organize. Grange official T.A. Thompson of Plainview, Minnesota, arrived in Wabasha County in 1870 for this purpose. With his assistance Bear Valley was one of the first six subordinate granges in the county and the 50th statewide. The Bear Valley Grange built this hall for themselves in 1874. The selected site was on land owned by a farmer named C. M. Boutelle, adjacent to the principal local road, which ran from Lake City to Mazeppa. Of the 18 subordinate granges active in Wabasha County that year, only one other had its own meeting hall. [3]
The rapid growth of the Grange, as it came to be known, was prompted by the massive changes in agricultural life after the American Civil War. Mechanized implements and more complex practises were being promoted, the rural population was booming, and railroad access linked farmers directly to eastern markets. Farmers previously engaged in subsistence agriculture were suddenly part of a vast, national economic network about which they had little knowledge or control. The Grange promised economic, educational, and social advancement for farmers, with opportunities to learn the latest scientific techniques, form agricultural cooperatives, and push for regulation of the railroads. The Grange also had a strong recreational component; rural communities had been lacking in social outlets aside from religious groups. Chapters hosted numerous lectures, potluck suppers, and other gatherings. Grange membership, open to any men and women involved in agriculture, numbered some 750,000 nationwide by 1876. [3]
The initial heyday of the Grange was short-lived, however. Due to over-enthusiasm and poor judgment, several organizational efforts in Minnesota failed, and membership quickly declined. The Bear Valley Grange had been one of Wabasha County's largest, with over 100 members, but it dissolved in the 1880s. The hall was repurposed as a town hall for Chester Township, an ongoing use which led to the preservation of the building. [3]
The Oliver Kelley Farm is a historic farmstead in Elk River, Minnesota. It was once owned by Oliver Hudson Kelley, one of the founders of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. The farmstead is a U.S. National Historic Landmark, which also places it on the National Register of Historic Places. The farm is currently operated as a historic site by the Minnesota Historical Society. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
The Mountainville Grange Hall is located on NY 32 just south of the hamlet of Mountainville in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. Built in 1904, the Grange sold it in 1984 to the Jerusalem Temple Lodge No. 721, a local Masonic body, and renamed the Cornwall Masonic Temple.
Minnehaha Grange, No. 398 was organized on December 23, 1873, with members from Edina Mills, Richfield Mills, St. Louis Park, and Hopkins. The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, commonly known as the Grange, is an organization dedicated to the principles of "progressive agriculture" for the "social fraternity of the farmers". The organization was founded in 1867 by Oliver Hudson Kelley in Elk River, Sherburne County, Minnesota and quickly spread across the country. The fraternity tackled issues such as railroad prices, and providing education to farmers.
The Norfolk Grange Hall, previously known as First Baptist Church, is a historic Grange hall and former Baptist church at 28 Rockwood Road in Norfolk, Massachusetts. Built in 1863, it is one of the town's few surviving 19th-century civic buildings. Since 1921 it has been owned by the Norfolk Grange # 135 and used as its meeting hall. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Dalton Grange Hall No. 23 was a historic Grange hall at South Street and Grange Hall Road in Dalton, Massachusetts. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and demolished in 1987. Built in 1879, it was the first Grange hall to be built and owned by a Grange chapter in the state.
The Third Meetinghouse is an historic church, community meeting house and Grange Hall at 1 Fairhaven Road in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. Built in 1816, it is the town's oldest surviving public building, and the one in which the meeting leading to its separation from Rochester took place. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Wabasha County, Minnesota. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wabasha County, Minnesota, United States. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in an online map.
The Grange Hall in Somerset Township, Jackson County, Illinois, is the historic meeting place of Somerset Township's chapter of The Grange. Built in 1912, the building was Somerset Grange #1553's second meeting hall; the first building was built in 1876 and burned down in 1909. The red brick building was built by contractor W. A. Pitman in the Commercial style. The Grange Hall served as a meeting place for local farmers to discuss agricultural affairs and propose farm policy to legislators. The National Farmers Union's newspaper, the Union Farmer, was published from the Somerset Grange Hall until 1914. The building also served as a local social center and hosted township elections, club meetings, and community events. The hall was rehabilitated in 1988; it still serves as a township polling place.
The Lakeside Grange No. 63 is a historic Grange hall on Main Street in Harrison, Maine. Built in 1905, it has served as a major community meeting space since then, notably surviving a 1907 fire that destroyed part of the town's center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Monticello Grange No. 338 is a historic civic building on United States Route 1 in the heart of Monticello, Maine. Built in 1922 by the local Grange organization, it served the town for many years as its only performance space, hosting social events, town meetings, and school graduations, and is still used for some of these purposes. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The Oakfield Grange was an historic clubhouse and community meeting space at 89 Ridge Road in Oakfield, Maine. Built in 1906 by the local chapter of the Patrons of Husbandry, the building was for many years the sole social meeting space of any size in the small rural community. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. It has since been demolished.
Comins Hall, also known as the East Eddington Public Hall and the Eddington-Clifton Civic Center, is a historic social and civic meeting hall at 1387 Main Road in Eddington, Maine. Built in 1879, it has since then served as the town's only major social and civic meeting space, hosting town meetings, dances, dinners, Grange meetings, and traveling performers. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Chester Town Hall may refer to:
The Starling Grange, now Starling Hall, is an historic former Grange hall at 2769 Main Street in Fayette, Maine, US. Built in 1879, it has been a fixture of the community since then. The Grange chapter disbanded in 1987, and the building has since then been owned by the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Reads Landing School is a former school building in the unincorporated community of Reads Landing, Minnesota, United States. Built in 1870, it has been converted into the Wabasha County Historical Society Museum. The building is one of the state's oldest surviving brick schools, and typifies their characteristic boxy, bracketed, Italianate style. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 for having local significance in the themes of architecture and exploration/settlement. It was nominated for being a rare surviving example of Minnesota's early brick schools, and for its association with Reads Landing's peak as a lumber milling boomtown.
The William H. and Alma Downer Campbell House is a historic house in Wabasha, Minnesota, United States. When it was built in 1874, it overlooked downtown Wabasha. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 for having local significance in the theme of architecture. It was nominated for being one of the largest and most prominent houses of its era in Wabasha.