This past summer Granby Public Library and Salmon Brook Historical Society challenged the community to the Good Things in Granby Great Adventure. Participants were asked to solve clues, learn more about town landmarks and former prominent citizens, and then travel to the local site to take a picture of their visit.
We are pleased to announce the winners, and invite you, Granby Drummer readers, to test your knowledge.
First, congratulations to the winners of the contest: Lisa and Halley Jansen. They managed to answer all the questions correctly and earn bonus points for creatively recording their travels. At a close second in the contest was Jill Small, Olivia and Max Fitzsimmons. Honorable mentions go to Nancy, Rohman and Selma Knutson, Matthew Becker and Karen Pape and family. Many thanks to the Library Friends for providing the winners with gift certificates from Lost Acres Orchard and Lox, Stock and Bagel.
And now, here is the Good Things in Granby Great Adventure game sheet:
- Once upon a time there was a 27-hole golf course in Granby. Do you know where? The greens and fairways of the main course stretched across both sides of the Salmon Brook, and eventually more links were added and redesigned by the club pro. The course was closed during wartime in 1943, the clubhouse burned in 1945, and it never re-opened. The space remains a vital recreation area for the community today.
- Broad Hill Farm was a family farm for generations and operated from the mid 1700s to the mid 1900s. Shade tobacco and dairy cows are no longer grown nor raised on the site, but it is a working farm today—just under a different name. What farm is it known as today?
- A North Granby native was appointed the third Connecticut State Librarian and is responsible for radically expanding the mission of the state library system, as well as ensuring the construction of the state library building in Hartford. Who was this revered native son and in which library did he work at the beginning of his career? Extra points for finding a plaque in his honor, but be careful!
- Did you know the oldest house in Granby is located at 45 Bushy Hill Road? Take a look and take a pic!
- This is a ‘twofer’—find the engraved name of Colonel Richard E. Holcomb (Hint: it’s in two locations.)
- It is estimated that the Dewey-Granby Oak sprouted from an acorn around 1600. Where can you find this majestic Granby icon? For extra points, where is Granby’s Constitution Oak located?
- There is a building in town that has served many purposes over the years. Once a Universalist church, then a school, and now it sports a rather large weapon on the front lawn. Where is it and what purpose does it serve today?
- The Captivity of Daniel Hayes is an accounting of the capture and eventual return of a Granby native. In the early 1700s, when he was 22 years old, Hayes was apprenticing as a weaver when he was captured by Indians and taken to Canada (apparently for retribution for mistreatment of a dog). He was allowed to live with the tribe as the caretaker of an old Indian woman until her death when he was sold to a French fur trapper. Hayes sold woven baskets to pay for his freedom and returned to Granby, on foot, seven years later. Where might you learn more information about Hayes’ experience?
- This building originally served as a one room schoolhouse and then the town hall. It was purchased in 1946 by a local group and moved 150 feet along North Granby Road to its current location. What is it known as today?
- Granby shares a 4,400-acre natural wonder with Simsbury and Canton. What is it called? Take a pic of your favorite trail head.
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 45-acre Wilcox property was recently acquired by the Granby Land Trust to preserve history and expand wildlife corridors. Where is it located?
- What name does Forsyth Mills go by today?
- In November 1921, Dr. Ernest Pendleton founded a hospital and began practicing medicine in Granby. Tuberculosis patients were treated in a solarium on the second floor that is still visible as a glassed-in area. What is the address where the hospital was located?
- The Granby Library Association was founded in 1869 by alumni of the pre-existing Granby Literary Association. A building was constructed for the subscription library and the second floor was rented to the Congregational Society of Salmon Brook (now known as South Congregational Church). A new library building was constructed in 1877, and following a fire in 1917, another community building was built. What organization operates from this building today?
Bonus points were awarded for sharing a picture and a story about your favorite historic Granby landmark.
See below for the answers and several photos.
Great Adventure answer sheet
The Good Things in Granby Great Adventure answers:
- The golf course was located on the grounds of Salmon Brook Park.
- Broad Hill Farm is known today as Holcomb Farm and is located on Simsbury Road in West Granby.
- George Seymour Godard was the Granby native who began his library career at F. H. Cossitt Library, North Granby, and finished after nearly 40 years as the third librarian of the Connecticut State Library.
- The oldest house in Granby is located at 45 Bushy Hill Road and was built in 1720.
- Colonel Richard E. Holcomb’s name is engraved on the Civil War monument on the town green, and on his stone at the Granby Cemetery.
- The Dewey Granby Oak is located at 67-79 Day Street, and the Granby Constitution Oak is located at 4 East Granby Road.
- The Shannon Shattuck American Legion Post #182 is located at 244 North Granby Road.
- There are multiple answers to this question including, Salmon Brook Historical Society, Granby Public Library, F. H. Cossitt Library, etc.
- The building is known as Granby Grange No. 5 and is located at 212 North Granby Road.
- McLean Game Refuge is the 4,400-acre natural wonder that occupies land in Granby, Simsbury and Canton.
- The Wilcox property is located at 143 Simsbury Road, West Granby.
- Forsyth Mills is known today as Old Mill Pond Village and is located at the junction of Mechanicsville Road and Salmon Brook Street.
- Dr. Pendleton’s Granby hospital was located at 225 Salmon Brook Street, and the main house still stands there today.
- The Visiting Nurse Association and Granby Food Bank now occupy the former building of the Granby Public Library.
