HISTORY OF ORANGE
After the Town Hall and schoolhouse were built at the Center, Town Meetings were held there rather than at the little town building built down on the Turnpike. This building had stood idle for years, so at a Town Meeting on October 1, 1894, it was voted ''to appoint an auctioneer to sell the old town hall on the Milford Turnpike to the highest bidder."
Charles F. Smith was appointed, and the building was sold to Thomas Mills for $48.
Much has been written and sung about the ''Gay Nineties.'' The young people of Orange were gay and had a good time during the seventies or eighties. Distance did not seem to hinder them, and if the means of transportation was slow, that did not bother them, either. Sometimes they would join a group from Milford for a dance, or they might go to Woodbridge; but wherever they went, Mr. John Anthony was sure to be on hand with his violin. His enthusiasm, as he fiddled and called off the figures for the square dances, was caught by all the dancers. Mr. Anthony's vocation during the day was to go around to the houses selling bluing, essences, and candy. Winter's cold did not worry the younger set, and if the trip should include a sleigh ride, so much the better. Sometimes it was a barn dance, with a husking bee to give the added interest.
About this period, two ants of Nature had a very disastrous effect on the community. On May 29, 1884, there was such a heavy frost that it killed every growing thing--all the fruit, the vegetables, and the flowers. It was such a calamity that for years afterwards people talked about "the great freeze.''
Then in March, 1888, occurred the big blizzard. It began to snow on Sunday afternoon, March 12, and the snow continued to fall for three days and nights. On Monday morning, the district schools did not open, but a few hardy girls and boys braved the storm and went to the High School on the Green. Although the school closed at noon, by that time the storm was so severe that the children could not reach their homes, but stopped to
106