For six years the Sadoce Wilcox House, built in 1800, has been under an extensive restoration and, in his award-winning article, local historian Mark Williams highlighted the “gradual unfolding of all that this historical resource has to offer.”
His article, “Sadoce Wilcox House fireplace—this summer, after two centuries, it will see some action!,” received the second-place award for a feature story from the Connecticut Press Club. The article focused on the fieldstone fireplace and the necessary efforts and potential pitfalls of cooking in the early 1800s.
The Granby Land Trust purchased the 45-acre Sadoce Wilcox property in 2019 from Steven Wilcox Hastings and transferred ownership of 1.6 acres containing the Wilcox House and Lyman Wilcox Barn to the Salmon Brook Historical Society. The society took on the restoration project. This April the restoration efforts were recognized by Preservation Connecticut, formerly the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, with an Award of Merit recognizing “outstanding achievement in protecting and nourishing Connecticut’s significant buildings, landscapes and communities.”
Williams has been involved in all aspects of the restoration. Mark and his wife Myck moved to Granby in 1971. He was the force behind the creation of the West Granby Historic District and the historical restoration and signage at the West Granby Cemetery and the Holcomb Farm. Williams is currently the caretaker of the Sadoce Wilcox House, doing research and writing, applying for grants, supervising workers, creating signage, training docents and arranging displays.
He and Myck conduct tours and host open houses. As volunteers they see the property as “a unique historical resource that tells the story of the six Wilcox generations that lived here, and more broadly illuminates the social history of Granby and rural New England.” In addition to their work with the West Granby Historic District, Mark and Myck serve as delivery angels for Healing Meals.
To read the winning article, visit this link.
Open Farm Day visitors are invited to the Wilcox House and Barn at 145 Simsbury Road, West Granby, on Sept. 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A special feature this year will be a presentation by Dennis Picard, a well-known expert on early American folkways, and on the food eaten by Continental Army soldiers during the Revolutionary War in Connecticut winter camps. Picard will present at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.