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

The Manitook Hotel was Granby’s “in place”

From 1929 to 1935, the Manitook Hotel, and guest cottages on the west shore of the lake, was a thriving, bustling place. Tourists from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and many other states visited to canoe, swim, play tennis, fish, hunt, and enjoy a vacation in Granby.

The Granby Fairgrounds

September is the time of year when the small-town fairs begin around Connecticut. For the early 20th century resident, the Granby Fair was the biggest thrill of the year.