Woodbridge Grange Hall may be open to community by December

The Woodbridge Grange Hall will have a new foundation, wheelchair access, new windows and other restorations by the end of the year. (Courtesy photographs)

Woodbridge Grange Hall may be open to community by December

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Friday, September 12, 2008 6:49 AM PDT

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After three years of planning, work has finally begun to restore the historic Woodbridge Grange Hall on Lower Sacramento Road.

Once work is completed, by the end of the year or sooner, the Woodbridge community will have a new place to conduct meetings, dances, dinners, weddings and other events.

Mid-Cal Constructors, which recently completed the renovation of a 19th-century schoolhouse in Lockeford, is now tearing out the interior of the Woodbridge Grange Hall and bringing the building into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The floor will be replaced, and the restrooms are being remodeled. Other improvements include new windows and electrical system.

The cost is an estimated $165,000, but the Grange received a $2,000 grant from San Joaquin County and $25,000 in federal money for ADA improvements.

The interior contains an old piano, donated by Addie Benedict according to a 1939 newspaper clipping.

The Woodbridge Municipal Advisory Council has discussed the possibility of moving its meetings to the Grange building from the Lodi Elks Lodge once the Grange Hall is repaired. The building will seat 75.

The Woodbridge Grange was formed in 1932. Its treasurer, Sharon Stokes of Thornton, comes from a long tradition of Grange members. Stokes' grandparents were members and may have been charter members.

The historic Woodbridge Grange Hall on Lower Sacramento Road is being completely remodeled so that it can be used by the Grange and community events. The restoration is due to be completed by December. (Courtesy photo)

"The goal was to save the building, and we did," said Grange treasurer Sharon Stokes. "It is an important part of Woodbridge's history as well as Galt's history"

Stokes' grandparents, Bill and Ramona Stokes, were active in the

Woodbridge Grange, having joined the organization in the mid-1930s.

An organization for 133 years in California and 138 years nationwide, the Grange today has about 12,000 members in 200 community Granges throughout the United States.

The Woodbridge chapter disbanded in 2004, but the club has since been resurrected with help from the Elk Grove and California Granges.

History of the Woodbridge Grange Hall

The building on Lower Sacramento Road was originally a one-room schoolhouse near Borden and Clay Station roads in Herald when it was built in about 1918.

In 1932, the school was closed down due to lack of attendance, sold to the Woodbridge Women's Club and moved to Academy Street and Lower Sacramento Road, across from the Woodbridge Masonic Cemetery.

Source: Galt Area Historical Society

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.