First built in 1913 by the Modern Woodmen of America, the Elcho Grange Hall has had a couple uses over its life.
First used as an insurance office for the Modern Woodmen fraternal society, then it was sold to the Grange movement in 1932.
The Grange movement was founded in the 1800s as an agricultural organization.
“They were concerned about the rural life of the farmer, and so what they did is they put this together across the United States,” said Elcho Historical Society Secretary Debi Mejak. “It brought farmers together, not only for social activities, but updates on farming, farming equipment, that kind of thing.”
The hall was eventually bought by “the chainsaw guy” John Jacobs in the 60s.
Mejak says Jacobs donated it to the Historical Society in 2019.
“We were wondering how we were going to do this, because it was an extensive restoration all the way from the foundation to the roof,” she said. “All the plaster needed repair, so the building was in very bad shape. We saved what we could. Some of the windows are still original, the plaster is original, the floor is original, the two side walls on the outside are original.”
It took more than $300,000 of grants, donations, and in-kind work to restore the Grange Hall.
It’s now a museum highlighting the history of Elcho and surrounding communities.
“We like to portray what the history of our area is, from farming all the way up through our military, and what they were able to serve our country with,” said Greg Mejak, the historical society treasurer.
The museum has artifacts displays about history of chainsaws, in honor of the man who gifted the building.
“We still have a lot of his things. We even have his shirt, so we dedicated a portion of the building to him and chainsaws,” said Debi. “Our president is big into the history of chainsaws, and he thought it was important as well.”
There are sections on potato farming and the gardening and lapidary work of the Kraft family, of the Kraft mac and cheese fame, that had an estate in Elcho.
There’s also portions dedicated Native American art, armed service members, and blacksmithing among others.
“There is so much deep history here,” said Debi. “It's just an amazing thing to see and talk to these people that have their relatives that were here in the late 1800s.”
Debi got permission from the Grange to use their trademark for barn quilts on the outside of the museum.
“Everybody came together for this, so it's just exciting to see it all just bloom,” said Debi. “Everybody's excited about the grand opening.”
The Elcho Historical Society worked hard to get everything done in time the country’s semiquincentennial.
The grand opening on July 4th is being turned into an all-day community celebration.
There will be a ribbon cutting, live music, and representatives from other nearby historic sites and local organizations. There will be bake sales, meals from churches, chainsaw carving, a boat and car show, activities for kids, and of course Elcho Fire Department’s annual street dance and fireworks.
“I just hope they come out and just have a great time and feel proud of their community,” said Greg.
You can see a full schedule of events here and map of everything here.
