A Grange is a local chapter of the National Grange, a farm fraternal order, formally the Patrons of Husbandry, that organized rural communities around cooperative buying, social life, and advocacy for farmers starting in the 1800s. Massachusetts still has active Granges, and the South Middleborough Grange Fair in this directory is run by one directly, which makes it organizationally distinct from a county agricultural society fair even though both are nonprofit and community-run. A Grange fair tends to run smaller and more local than a chartered county agricultural society's flagship event, closer in scale to a one-day town fair than to a multi-day fairgrounds event with a full grandstand schedule, midway, and exhibition hall.
Also known as: Grange fair, Patrons of Husbandry chapter.
