SMALL TOWN, BIG HISTORY
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 -- 2:07 PM
An area native is piecing together the history of his hometown, and he?s looking for the public?s help.Jay Parker is a history buff who has a special place in his heart for Granton.
He?s been collecting information, photos and artifacts and plans to construct a readable history of the village.
"I've just always been fascinated by history. Because it's my hometown, I'm just really interested in the history of the town," Parker explains.
His collection is 30 years in the making.
"It's really interesting to see, in some ways, how Granton is very different than how it was. There are a lot of buildings that used to be there, that aren't anymore," Parker notes, "and yet, when you look at the street now, it still resembles how it did 100 years ago."
For instance, Granton used to have a jewelry store, a furniture store and not one, but two, opera houses.
Parker says his final product, which he hopes to have complete in a couple years, will try to string together the village?s narrative from it?s pre-turn of the century beginning to the present day.
"It will never be a labor of profit," Parker jokes. He just hopes to put together a good history that will be interesting to the current and future generations.
You can check out Parker?s website at [url=http://web.me.com/grantonhistory]web.me.com/grantonhistory[/url]. You can also help him piece together some of the village's history through that page.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.