UPDATE:
Grantham’s 250th anniversary celebration has been postponed from to Wednesday night, Aug. 23, due to the weather forecast. The event, which features fireworks and music by Soulfix, will begin at 6 p.m. at Grantham Recreation Park on Shedd Road.
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Grantham
A really, really big birthday. The Upper Valley town (named for Thomas Robinson, the first Baron of Grantham, according to the town website) is turning 250 and will be celebrating on Tuesday at 6 p.m. with a free concert by Soulfix followed by fireworks at the recreation park on Shedd Road.
The event is one of several that will take place from now until Grantham’s Old Home Day on July 4, 2018. The formal founding date is June 3, 1767.
Ken Story, president of the Grantham Historical Society, remembers when the town celebrated its 200th birthday.
“That was a big deal,” he said. “Grantham was much smaller then.”
For much of its early life, the town was a little more secluded than its neighbors. “Grantham never had a railroad,” Story explained. “It helped keep the town fairly isolated for a very long time.”
That all changed once Interstate 89 was built.
“I don’t think anyone foresaw what impact that would have,” he said. The highway further developed the town and “has allowed Grantham to become a bedroom community.”
But the town has maintained the character it started with. “Given all the growth we’ve experienced since Interstate 89 came through, there’s still a small-town feel,” Story said.
Here are a couple of little-known facts about Grantham that Story shared: At one point, the town had four village centers, and songwriter Alan Gordon — who co-wrote The Turtles hit Happy Together — lived in town for time.
Story moved to Grantham in 1964 when he was 7 years old. “Because I wasn’t born here, I’m not considered a native officially,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s how it works in small New England towns.”
Editor’s note: For more information about Grantham’s 250th, call 603-863-6021. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
