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Supervisor Ranalli recommending Board authorize the Chair to sign a Proclamation to recognize the re-dedication of California Registered Historical Landmark 551, the site of California's first Grange Hall, also known as Pilot Hill Grange Hall 1.
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The Pilot Hill Grange No. 1, Pilot Hill, El Dorado County was organized August 10, 1870, by A. A. Bayley, with General Deputy P. D. Brown as the first Master, and with 29 charter members. The first meetings of this group were held in the Masonic Hall in Pilot Hill. Mr. A. A. Bayley would later grant the Pilot Hill Grange a 99-year lease on property where he then constructed a frame building for the Pilot Hill Grange to use as a meeting hall. The site of this first meeting hall, the site of the First Grange Hall in California, is located at 4302 State Highway 49 in Pilot Hill.
In 1945 Mr. and Mrs. Lou Enzler presented a gift of nine acres on Highway 193 to the Pilot Hill Grange as a location for a new grange hall. Local residents donated timber from their property, hauled the timber to then local mills in Georgetown, and used the 45,000 board feet of local lumber to build the grange hall. Through community spirit and the hard work of local residents the new Pilot Hill Grange Hall was dedicated in 1948. The Pilot Hill Grange No. 1 has served their community at this site for the last 68 years and proudly celebrates its 146th Charter Birthday this year.
The site of the First Grange Hall in California on State Highway 49 is a historic site that has been designated as California Registered Historical Landmark No. 551. The monument at this site was dedicated on May 20, 1956, with 1,000 residents in attendance. The original State marker at this site was stolen in 1975. The marker was reproduced and commemorated with a re-dedication ceremony in 1982. Unfortunately, the reproduced marker was later stolen.
In collaboration with the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Pilot Hill Grange No. 1 has provided funding for a replacement marker.
On Saturday, May 7, 2016, the replacement marker will be unveiled and re-dedicated. A ceremony to celebrate the re-dedication of the marker will be held at the Pilot Hill Grange Hall, located at 1701 State Highway 193 in Cool beginning at 12:00 Noon.
Supervisor Ranalli invites the Board to join him in commemorating the re-dedication of the marker and in recognizing the Pilot Hill Grange No. 1 for 146 years of service to support the community in their efforts to "Share, Learn, Grow, and Thrive."