Granby men went to war against…Spain

“Remember the Maine, the Hell with Spain” was the cry from U.S. citizens after a United States Court of Inquiry determined that in the Spanish-held Havana Harbor on Feb. 15, 1898, an underwater mine had blown up the U.S. battleship, the Maine. After the court’s decision, President McKinley asked for 125,000 men to volunteer for two years to help fight Spain in support of Cuba’s fight for independence from Spain.

Granby’s first female state representative

The stone house at 109 West Granby Road is where Helen Green lived all her life. Green was the first woman from Granby to represent the 7th District in the state legislature and she dedicated her life to public service and education.

The hospital on Salmon Brook Street

From 1921 to 1946, the house at 225 Salmon Brook Street was owned by Dr. Ernest Pendleton. From 1921 to 1928 Dr. Pendleton lived on the first floor with his family and ran a hospital on the second and third floors.

Fred Marshall Colton, Granby tobacco farmer

The other day, as I was walking through the Granby Cemetery, a gravestone caught my eye, that had AVERY written on the top and COLTON beneath it, specifically, Fred M. Colton. Across the street, I could see the Town Hall Complex and the Public Library, where 100 years ago, it would have been farm fields.

James Lee Loomis was a Granby success story

The historic houses in Granby have sheltered many prominent individuals, but none more so than those along Salmon Brook Street. As you drive south past the center green, you’ll notice a large American Gothic-style house on your right.