Old Fire Station - Cornet Band Hall

Just past the Old Post office is the Old Fire Station. It was built around 1830 as a village school. At various times it has been used as a tin shop, an undertaking establishment, and a Masonic Lodge Hall.

It became the town's first fire station in 1938 when John Butterfield Duncan donated the building after it was damaged in the 1938 hurricane. He stipulated that the Grafton Cornet Band should always have use of the second floor for their headquarters. And so it does. In 1992, the all-volunteer Fire Company moved to a more modern building one-half mile south on Rt. 121.

The Grafton Cornet Band was founded in March, 1867 and the first meeting was held in the home of Vestus Wilbur in Grafton. The band is still going strong, giving the town of Grafton the distinction of having an organized Cornet Band in continuous service longer than any other similar organization in Vermont.