History

The first Grange Hall in California was organized on August 10, 1870. Earlier that summer, A.A. Alexander became interested in the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry after reading an article about them. He wrote to O.H Kelly, the National Grange Secretary in Itasca, Minnesota for more information. Because there was no resident General Deputy of the Patrons of Husbandry in California, Bayley was assigned a special commission and was given the directives of the organization.

Pilot Hill Grange No. 1 had 29 charter members, including Master F.D. Brown and Secretary A.J. Bayley, son of A.A. Bayley. The Grange Hall was dedicated at this site on November 23, 1889 and was built by Alexander A. Bayley.

The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry was the first organization dedicated to advocating agriculture and farming and was founded in 1867. As of 2005, the organization had a membership of 160,000 people in 36 states.