A grassy lot at 14 Prospect St. in Orange was once the location of Memorial Hall, the home of the General Sedgewick #17 Grand Army of the Republic Post. Although the building is gone, the Orange Revitalization Partnership would like to create a marker for the site to commemorate the building and to honor the Civil War veterans from Orange, according to Denise Andrews.
The Grand Army of the Republic organization was first formed nationally in 1866 in Springfield, Illinois to honor Civil War Veterans from the Union Army, Navy and Marines, according to Andrews.
The Grand Army of the Republic was also involved in social activism — being the first to promote voting rights for African Americans, pensions for veterans and getting behind efforts to make Memorial Day a national holiday, she continued.
The hall that once stood at the Orange site was built in 1892 at a cost of $6,000, as stated in an Orange Enterprise article of February of that year, according to research done by Janice Lanou, retired director of the Wheeler Memorial Library in Orange. An August 1892 article from the Orange Enterprise, noting the groundbreaking for the hall stated, “This is to be a memorial hall in the strongest sense of the word, dedicated, not only to the fallen heroes and their surviving comrades, but to the many loyal men and women in Orange, who aided at home, in preserving the Union.”
The hall was built by Slate and Vaughn, Architect and Builders.
At the dedication, according to a March 1893 Orange and Enterprise article, those present included town selectmen, A.F. Slate of Slate and Vaughn, and Commander D.W. Hall, past commander of the Lynn Grand Army of the Republic Post, then the largest post in New England, who dedicated the building and addressed the group.
In 1989, Memorial Hall was demolished due to disrepair. However, at that time some town citizens opposed the razing of the building, according to Andrews. Memorial was one of only two GAR buildings which had a turret feature, Andrews said.
Currently there are 13 Grand Army of the Republic buildings nationally and only one in Massachusetts, the Grand Army of the Republic Hall and Museum in Lynn.
There are reminders of the Orange Grand Army of the Republic building still in existence. These include a sign from the building that was placed in storage after the building was razed, a stained-glass window as well as a 7-foot-tall bookcase currently on loan to the Orange Historical Society. The stained-glass window and bookcase were donated to the Orange Revitalization Partnership by Brenda Cope of Lilly Belle Antiques at 19 East Main St. in town.
The Orange Revitalization Partnership will seek community engagement and citizen input into the marker’s design. It is hoped the sign and the stained-glass window will be incorporated into the remembrance marker. The partnership is also interested in any one who might be willing to volunteer time to design the marker.
Those interested in donating funds toward the marker can send donations to the Orange Revitalization Partnership, P.O. Box 347, Orange, MA 01364 and mark their check “Memorial Hall Marker.”