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Granville County Historical Society 50 years of History

Organization
May 4, 1962-First meeting was held
  • Chair--Mrs. Leslie R. Hummel (Elizabeth Hicks)
  • Secretary--Mrs. Claude Wheeler (Edith Howell)
  • Members:
Mrs. D. G. Brummitt (Kate Fleming)
Mrs. C. G. Royster (Kathryn Bullock)
Mr. Claude A. Renn

Official Formation
May 22, 1964--Constitutiion, By-laws and Incorporation papers approved and filed at a cost of $20.00
  • Officers:
President, Mrs. Elizabeth Hicks Hummel
Vice-President, Mrs. Richard W. Harris
Secretary, Lynette Adcock
Treasurer, Mr. Claude Renn

Projects 1964-1974
May 2, 1964
  • Bi-Centennial celebration of the first Court House at Oxford Plantation
  • Marker at the Benton House (Samuel Benton), Oxford's oldest house
October 29, 1964
  • Earl of Granville flag becomes official Granville County Flag
  • Map church cemetery plats and identify grave
May 29, 1965
  • Index records in Clerk's Office at the Court House
October 30, 1965
  • Museum Committee formed
  • Family Cemetery plats being drawn
  • Bible records sought
  • Goat House sills salvaged for project
  • Methodist Church Bi-Centennial tie-in
June 5, 1966
  • Essay Contest held for school children
  • Scrapbook Contest held for Granville County Schools
October 29, 1966
  • Collaborated with DAR on article in DAR Magazine about John Penn
June 2, 1967
  • Asked Commissioners to purchase microfilm reader
  • Requested census records up to 1870
October 19, 1968
  • Attept to preserve Patillo School house on Julian Wilson's property
  • Linden Ave. widening--disposition on Old Oxford Cemetery questioned
  • Paid difference to refinish Court House doors rather than replace them
May 31, 1969
  • Records to be microfilmed
  • Sold Bi-Centennial Brochures for 50 cents in celebration of 1764 Court House event
  • Marker for Edmund Taylor home site on Hwy. 96, eight miles south of Oxford
September 27, 1969
  • Society takes stand to keep Granville County Records in Granville County
  • Society favors erection of memorial to all servicemen
  • Delegation to ask Commissioners for use of old jail as a County museum site

Projects 1975-1984
Minutes were missing after September 27, 1969 up to May 22, 1982
May 22, 1982
  • Society petitions Commissioners to refrain from closing Court Street or making any addition to the existing ourside structure of the Court House
December 11, 1982
  • Initiated setting up a historical district(State Archives to help with historic survey of Oxford and possibly Granville County)
October 15, 1983
  • Recording genealogical inquiries
  • Collaboration with library to Xerox Bibles

​​​​​​​Projects 1985-1994
November 9, 1987
  • Decision to publish book with results of historical survey being conducted
January 11, 1988
  • Contest to name the book; involving schools
  • Formed the Granville County-Oxford Historic Properties Commission
May 6, 1989
  • "Heritage and Homesteads" published
  • Paid for Old Oxford Cemetery restoration; fencing
  • Replacement of Oxford Women's College State Historical Marker
June 26, 1989
  • Collected contributions for cleaning of vandalized John Penn Monument at Guilford BattlegroundOctober 21, 1989
October 21, 1989
  • Society asks City of Oxford to repair stone wall-Horner Military School site

Projects 1985-1994 (con't.)
    April 12, 1992
    • Coordinated Historical House Markers project in Oxford, NC
    • Sent $250 to Hawley Middle School to help with their Granville County Day
    February 7, 1993
    • $25 sent to Girl Scout Troop in Bullock
    • $100 sent to Friends of Archives, Raleigh, NC
    • $50 sent to Somerset Place Foundation, Creswell, NC
    • Plan to purchase two NC Architecture Heritage Education Program Kits to teach NC History--for the school system
    June 8, 1994
    • Society leased all assets from the Granville County Museum and is in complete control of the museum
    September 14, 1994
    • Renovation plans for the old jail began

    Projects 1995-2004
    April 26, 1995
    • Renovation starts on old jail; Morgan Kenney, consultant
    March 5, 1996
    • Nancy J. Walter hired as part-time museum director
    April 22, 1996
    • Letter sent depicting a positive future for C. G. Credle School building and suggesting ways to keep it open
    September 12, 1996
    • Nancy J. Walters decided not to renew her contract; JoAnna McDaniels offered the contract
    November 17, 1996
    • Time Capsule stored at museum
    October 20, 1997
    • Commissioners accept terms that old freezer locker be used as a museum; Morgan Kenney to oversee renovation
    November 2, 1997
    • Plan for freezer locker to become annex and permanent history exhibit established in the old jail
    May 26, 1998
    • JoAnna McDaniels resigned; Pam Thornton volunteered to serve as interim director
    July 14, 1998
    • Society cooperates with Arts Council in quilt project
    November 15, 1998
    • City Commissioners approve "Museum Lane" for street leading to museum
    October 19, 1999
    • Morgan Kenney resigned renovation of jail; Belmont Builders contracted to finish
    April 5, 2000
    • Society seeking museum director
    May 9, 2000
    • Harris Exhibit Hall chosen as name for museum annex
    August 2, 2000
    • NC Museum of History consultant to help outline permanent Granville County History exhibit in old jail
    February 10, 2001
    • Museum aired on WRAL TV--Brain Teasers

    Projects 2005-2014
    March 8, 2004
    • Design Dimension of Raleigh contracted for permanent Granville County History exhibit in the old jail
    March 12, 2007
    • Supported formation of the Historical Preservation Commission
    November 11, 2007
    • Society to negotiate purchase of Curt Tillotson Train Collection
    February 11, 2008
    • Society to renovate storage building behind Harris Exhibit Hall for train exhibit
    December 10, 2013
    • Papers signed to raise storage building and build new construction

    Projects 2015-Present
    May, 2018
    • Stephanie Velazquez May named Museum Director; Michaela Howell, Assistant Director
    March, 2019
    • The name of the Granville County Historical Society Museum was officially changed to Granville Museum

    Special Acquisitions
    • Oxford Buggy Company Carriage Purchase--April 20, 1991
    • Horse Drawn and Motorized Hearses Purchased--abt. April 20, 1991
    • Lyon-Winston Farm Wagon on Display--Granville County Court House--February 7, 1993
    • Farm Wagon--Concord Runabout Buggy--built by Oxford Buggy Company--September 14, 1994



    Open Tuesday-Friday
    10 am to 4 pm
    Saturday by Appointment
    Call 919-693-9706 to Schedule.
     
    Admission: Free     
     
    Museum Director:
    Stephanie Velazquez May
    smay.gmuseum@gmail.com