Development of Community: The Grange

1867 Grange is founded

What is the Grange?

Many Granges are made up of members who are farmers and also members who are not. Youth membership is important to the organization. There is a Junior Grange for kids between the ages of five and fourteen. The Grange is based on farm and rural community values.

What does the Grange do?

The Grange helps people, especially farmers, help others. Most Granges support community service and volunteer work in addition to providing their members with a community with whom to discuss farming matters. The Grange tries to bring together people involved in different areas of agriculture as well as different parts of the community. This picture shows an old stage curtain from a Grange building in Knox County. Notice that the advertisements on the curtain support agricultural and non-agricultural business alike. The Grange is an organization with a long history in Ohio. A Changing Grange The first Grange in Ohio was Grange No. 1 in East Cleveland, Ohio on March 2, 1870. Since then other cities, townships and communities have established their own chapters of the Grange. The first Grange in Knox County was the Middlebury Grange which was started around the year 1875. Today there are thirteen active Grange chapters in Ohio. But this number is only half of what it was thirty years ago. Today the number of members in Knox County Granges is under 1,000. One reason for the decline in membership is modern technology. Television, computers and telephones take up much of the time that community members once spent sharing agricultural ideas and concerns in organizations like the Grange.

Fieldwork Fun! Find out more about the Grange in your area!

• Do you know anyone in your area who is a Grange member?
• Talk with them about their experiences in the Grange and what being a Grange member has meant to them.
• See if you can attend a Grange meeting to learn more about the Grange firsthand.
• Share your learning experiences with your classmates and teacher. Teach them about the Grange!

• Future Famers of America
• Farm Bureau
• 4-H

Take me back in time!