In 1916 Cambridges Old Home Week celebrated the alignment of three special anniversaries: (1) the 100th anniversary of the creation of the towns of White Creek and Jackson (2) the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Village of Cambridge and (3) the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Cambridge Union School. The celebration included one of Cambridge’s finest parades, rivaling the Floral Parades held during the initial years of the Great Cambridge Fair.
The Old Home Week parade, on September 12, 1916, started at Academy Street and ended at the Cambridge Fairgrounds. The order of entries in the parade matched the timeline of Cambridge’s history: the Indians, a Puritan minister, the Checkered House, George Washington and the D.A.R., stage coaches, carriages, Abraham Lincoln, fire department, Cambridge Valley band, and finally motor cars.
The idea of Old Home Week was conceived by Rev. John R Fisher. He served on the executive committee with Robert Law, George McFarland, David Sheridan, and Frank Richardson. The trees lining Main Street were planted 40 years before during the 1876 Centennial celebration.
The Checkered House float was near the front of the 1916 Old Home Week parade celebrating its honor as one of the oldest local landmarks. The Cowden Tavern, built around 1765, was used by General Baum as his headquarters on August 15, 1777, the eve of the Battle of Bennington. After the war, the clapboards on all sides were painted in large squares of red and white.
The Old Home Week celebration kicked off with historical sermons in each of the local churches. A Sunday afternoon ceremony on the lawn of the Rice Seed Company featured New York State Congressman William Bennett. The Washington County Post described the scene thusly: “”A day more beautiful, air more bracing, a view over the hill and valley more charming Cambridge never saw.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union celebrated the 19 dry states with its float in the 1916 Old Home Week parade. The W.C.T.U. in Cambridge was organized on May 25, 1879, six years after the national foundation in Evanston, IL. Initially there were 56 members in the Cambridge chapter with Mrs. Frances Gray Blinn serving as president. Key members in 1916 included Mrs. JJ Gray and Mrs. JB Rice Jr
Distinguished local men and women probably raided their parent’s and grandparent’s attics as they donned vintage attire for the 1916 Old Home Week parade. Over 8,000 people attended the ceremonies in Fullers Grove on the west side of South Park Street. Originally, a Children’s Parade had been scheduled also. This was cancelled due to widespread fear caused by an outbreak of Infantile Paralysis in Brooklyn in early
summer.
