Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation (NCCHP)

NCCHP was created to preserve and present the rich history of Granville (Massachusetts) and the Pioneer Valley area. The museum is housed within the historic buildings of the Noble & Cooley drum factory. The buildings, collections and original manufacturing equipment offer a unique opportunity to experience "Yankee Ingenuity" as it impacted the Granville community and manufacturing from the mid-1800's forward. For more information on the NCCHP museum visit www.ncchp.org

Friday, July 1, 2016

JULY 4, 1854: "THE BEST CELEBRATION EVER IN GRANVILLE"

On the occasion of this holiday weekend celebrating the 240th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, we step back in time to 1854 when the Noble & Cooley company was in its first year of existence. Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln's predecessor, was President and the start of the Civil War was nearly seven years in the future.

Thanks to the recent digitization of James Cooley's and N&C co-founder James P. Cooley's daily journals as part of the Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation's Research Library project we are able to share the events of Independence Day 162 years ago when there were still living residents of Granville who had been born under British colonial rule.

As always you can click on the image above for a larger version. Here is the gist of the entry:

"July 4, Tuesday: Very warm, thermometer 96. Raised Liberty pole in morning. Humid. Church address by Doct. Cooley. Declaration [of Independence] read by R.H. Brown in Evening. Picnick out, 10 evening on the Green by Torch Light. Music by Choir & Rose & Hubbard. Said to be the best Celebration ever in G[ranville]."

We hope your 4th of July includes a reading of the Declaration of Independence and is the Best Celebration Ever, wherever you are!