Salmon Brook Historical Society

When hair wreaths were the rage

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The Salmon Brook Historical Society has two framed hair wreaths in the parlor of the historic Weed-Ender House. These two hair wreaths were made in the mid- to late-nineteenth century and were crafted in memory of members of the Emmons-Case families as well as the Messenger family. During the Victorian Era, hair art was a common way for families to preserve the memory of a loved one.

Bonus Pages

Barns that built a town

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As winter begins to thaw, the earth slowly reveals itself again after months beneath the snow. Driving through Granby in early spring, it’s impossible not to notice the barns. They rise behind stone walls and quiet fields, their red siding weathered by decades of New England seasons.

History

Granby Doctors Part 2: medicine in the 18th and 19th centuries

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Last month I wrote about Granby’s more recent doctors, William Dwyer to Alfred Weed. They were modern doctors who had learned the principles of germ theory. They understood that microscopic organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi cause disease. However, that knowledge was relatively new. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, doctors saw medicine differently.

Bonus Pages

The way Beman Hardware used to look!

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Granby Manufacturing Co. on Hartford Ave. was organized in 1873. It later housed a store, post office and ice cream parlor, and was called the Cowles Block. Beman Hardware was in this building until 1972. When the new store was built behind the store, the old building was razed.