Fifty years of changes in Granby

As we all endure the construction in the center of town and look forward to seeing the improvements to Granby, I can’t help but think about how much our town has changed.

1973 Field Hockey team put Granby on the map

Fifty years ago, on Nov. 17, 1973, when Mary Brynes scored the winning goal with 28 seconds left in the second overtime, Granby’s Field Hockey team beat Guilford 2 to 1 in the first ever Field Hockey State Championship. As author Rob Penfield stated, this win “put Granby on the map.”

The YWCA in Granby

When speaking about volunteering in Granby, the perfect example would be the 1950s to 60s when the County YWCA was an active organization in a changing and growing community.

Why are Sadoce and Roxey Wilcox important?

Near the south end of the West Granby National Register Historic District stands a house and barn that have witnessed more than over two centuries of Granby history. Built around 1800 by Sadoce Wilcox, an aspiring blacksmith, the Wilcox House has a story to tell about his family and five more generations of Wilcoxes who inhabited the place until 2019.

“The Florida girls are coming!”

For nearly 25 years, from 1944 to 1968, hundreds of teenage girls from Florida cities like Sarasota, Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, and Miami—came to Camp Manitook in Granby to stay for two months and worked the shade-grown tobacco fields in the Farmington Valley.

When the Hindenburg flew over Granby

At approximately 10:45 in the morning on Friday, October 9, 1936, William Shattuck looked over to the northwest hills of West Granby and saw the airship from Germany flying below the clouds, about 500 feet from the ground