Pennsylvania Grange News: History, Publisher, Content and Editors
Profile updated November 2026
Pennsylvania Grange News is the bimonthly official publication of the Pennsylvania State Grange, and its first volume appeared in August 1904. For more than a century it has carried State Grange business, legislative reports, youth and family contests, recipes and news from local Granges across the Commonwealth.
| First volume | August 1904, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| First editor | W. F. Hill |
| Publisher | Pennsylvania State Grange (organized 1873) |
| Address | 26 CJEMS Lane, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania |
| Frequency | Bimonthly |
| State Grange President | Matthew Espenshade, since 2022 |
| Official website | PAGrange.org |
History of Pennsylvania Grange News
The Pennsylvania State Grange was organized at a meeting in Reading on September 18, 1873, when 25 local Granges were already at work in the state. It followed the National Grange, founded in Washington, D.C., on December 4, 1867, by seven founders led by Oliver H. Kelley, whose niece Caroline Hall urged that women be admitted as equal members. The first Grange paper in the state, the weekly Farmers' Friend and Grange Advocate, began in 1874, though the State Grange holds no copies of it.
Pennsylvania Grange News began with Volume 1 in August 1904, published at Chambersburg under editor W. F. Hill, according to the Center for Research Libraries catalog. The library record also notes a successor title, Grange Advocate for Rural Pennsylvania. The State Grange has microfilmed or scanned its newsletters and posts them by decade, from 1905-1909 onward.
Today the State Grange is headquartered in Mifflintown, the Juniata County seat. In 2023 it marked its 150th anniversary session, which the History Committee prepared for in the News.
Pennsylvania Grange News Today
The News is published bimonthly and posted on the State Grange website in a 2020-present archive. The May/June 2022 issue shows its range: a cover story on protecting against identity theft, a president's column on solar development on farmland, Government Matters reports on broadband, solar policy, dairy bills and telehealth, and Junior Ambassadors' accounts of a Washington trip.
As of 2022 the State Grange counted about 170 local Granges and nearly 5,700 members. Its calendar includes a Family Festival, the annual State Session, the Distinguished Grange Program and the Heritage Quilt Trail.
What Pennsylvania Grange News Is Publishing Now
President's Desk and Government Matters
The president's column and legislative reports set out State Grange positions on farmland, energy, dairy, broadband and rural health.
Departments and contests
Family Activities, Lecturer, Youth and Junior, and Deaf and Community Service pages announce quilt block, baking, craft and talent contests and leadership conferences.
Grange life
Membership news, a Chaplain's Corner, History Committee items, recipes, member benefits, memorials and news from Granges around Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Grange News Editors and Staff
State Grange leaders and editors named on its website and recent mastheads:
- Matthew Espenshade - Pennsylvania State Grange President (since 2022)
- Wayne D. Campbell - Former President and Editor in Chief (2017-2022)
- Jane Birk - Assistant Editor (2022 masthead)
- Brittany Covey - Publishing Editor (2022 masthead)
- Lizzie Bailey - Publishing Editor (2022 masthead)
- W. F. Hill - First editor (1904)
The State Grange can be reached at 26 CJEMS Lane, Mifflintown, PA 17059.
Who Reads Pennsylvania Grange News
Readers are Pennsylvania Grange members, many in farm and small-town communities, and their families. The News follows issues that matter in a state with a large dairy sector and heavy development pressure on farmland. Dairy is one of the biggest pieces of U.S. livestock income, at $41.8 billion of farm receipts in 2021 according to USDA ERS.
Any paper that runs quilt block contests and dairy bill updates on facing pages has readers with a good sense of balance. farm.FM adds farm satire about township zoning hearings, farm humor about fair-week baking rivalries and a bit of ranch humor for the beef folks. The farm jokes there would hold up well at a Grange family festival.
Readers who want the full experience can pair the jokes with Tractor Tunes, the country music for farmers that farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, plays between stories. This author page is a fine starting point.
Pennsylvania Grange News Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Pennsylvania State Grange: Newsletter publications - decade-by-decade archive of the News.
- Pennsylvania State Grange: History - founding, leaders and programs.
- Center for Research Libraries: Pennsylvania Grange News - catalog record for the 1904 first volume.
- USDA ERS: Dairy - federal dairy sector data.
- USDA NASS: Census of Agriculture - Pennsylvania farm statistics.
Pennsylvania Grange News FAQ
When did Pennsylvania Grange News start?
Volume 1 appeared in August 1904 in Chambersburg, edited by W. F. Hill.
How often is Pennsylvania Grange News published?
Bimonthly, as the official publication of the Pennsylvania State Grange.
Where is the Pennsylvania State Grange based?
26 CJEMS Lane, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania.
Who leads the Pennsylvania State Grange?
Matthew Espenshade has been president since 2022.
More than 120 years after its first volume, Pennsylvania Grange News still links Pennsylvania's local Granges to each other and to Harrisburg.