Previously, a camp existed near Vienna and Dunn Loring for grange members to gather for fairs and picnics; activities that advanced the mission of the grange movement.

 

 

Grange Camp Survey Plat, July 1891
Fairfax Deed Bood M5(117):252,
Courtesy Fairfax County Circuit Court Archives

 

A Farmers’ Movement, led by the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, grew out of Civil-War reconstruction. The economic outlook for the farmer following the Civil War was bleak. Financial capitalists and manufacturing/labor leaders were organizing, leaving the unorganized farmer vulnerable. The farmers’ economic situation deteriorated further. The high cost of the war resulted in high tariff rates beneficial to the manufacturers but detrimental to the farmer. As the demand for government revenue grew, taxation increased; primarily for the farmer who was taxed on tangible land, as opposed to laborers living in cities. Exasperating the problem, thousands of Northern soldiers were recalled home where they found a surplus labor force. This precipitated their westward migration to fertile farmland, and resulted in a general depreciation in value of eastern farmland. These conditions resulted in practical discussions on how to improve the prosperity of the American farmer.[1]

 

The Order of the Patrons of Husbandry was founded in 1867 by seven men; six of whom held positions within the federal government. Oliver Hudson Kelley is regarded as the primary force behind the Order’s formation. Kelley, a Minnesota farmer who had been employed as a clerk with the Department of Agriculture during the Civil War, received an appointment in 1866 from the Department of Agriculture to canvas the southern states to obtain statistical and other information about the South’s agricultural and mineral resources, which was not available during the war. Kelley, who was made to feel welcome in the South by fellow members of his Masonic fraternity, conceived the idea that the people of the North and South should know one another as a large family rather than a sectional society. Thus, Kelley’s concept of uniting farmers in a secret society was born.[2]  Kelley’s niece, Carrie Hall, suggested that women be afforded equal footing. Her contributions resulted in her eventually being recognized as the eighth founder. This acknowledgment likely came out of the Women’s Rights Movement.[3]

 

Following its creation, the Patrons of Husbandry worked to unite Northern and Southern farmers. Northerners assisted Southerners to achieve a recovery. Mr. Darden, a granger from Mississippi, commented in 1878 at the National Grange meeting that in his state, there was no ill will, especially in light of the sympathy and generous donations made by Northerners to the South.[4]

 

The Order of the Patrons of Husbandry is a ritualistic fraternal organization whose local units are called subordinate granges. The term grange was chosen by Oliver Hudson Kelley, due to its association with farming, after seeing the term in the title of a book advertised at the time. Members of a grange are referred to as grangers.

 

The fraternity’s long-established purpose is to increase the mental, moral, social and material prosperity of the farmer, foster understanding and cooperation, and be self-sustaining.[5] The Grange has been a proponent of schools, better roads, rural free mail delivery, morality, cooperative buying, social community activities, and, though non-partisan, has promoted legislation beneficial to the farmer.

 

Established prior to 1879, the District Grange of Northern Virginia was composed of grangers from several counties, including Fairfax.[6] The District Grange met in the Braddock house in Alexandria, Virginia. The Hon. R. R. Farr, attorney and Fairfax County surveyor, was at one time the lecturer for the Grange. Other local families who participated included the Carpers and Olivers.[7]

 

Grange Camp Association

 

A movement began with the District Grange in 1883 to arrange for a farmers’ fair and picnic.[8] It was originally held in Falls Church. However, the organization of the fair was later established as the Grange Camp Association by an Act of the Virginia House, which passed the Virginia Senate in 1886.[9]  The camp was located on land leased by the Association from the Loring Land and Improvement Company located west of the Dunn Loring subdivision. It is not surprising that the camp was located there. George B. Loring, who in addition to being an owner of the Loring Land and Improvement Company, was Commissioner of Agriculture, and interacted with the National, State, and District granges.

 

Carpenters constructed buildings and other laborers set up exhibitions for the first Virginia Grange camp in 1886.[10] A railroad depot was constructed nearby, and excursion rates were offered from Washington, D. C.[11] 

 

The camp was described in 1888 as being

 

…situated in an oak grove of forty acres, and two good-sized wooden buildings contain the exhibits…A hotel located in the center of the camp furnishes meals to visitors, and the grounds are dotted here and there with booths and stands, a merry-go-round, shooting gallery and other catch-penny devices…[12]

 

Farm animals were often showcased at the fair. James P. Machen, of Walney, exhibited three ewes in 1887.[13] Alexander J. Wedderburn, editor of the Grange Journal, established his printing operation at the camp.[14] The lease for the camp was sold to Wedderburn in 1889. Now, Wedderburn Lane, near Vienna, marks the original grounds of the camp.