The South Greenville Grange #225 is the oldest continuously active grange in Wisconsin. On October 17, 1873, forty-two people attended its organizational meeting held in Congress Hall, a log cabin located about three miles west of Appleton and owned by German settlers in the area. The national grange, formally known as the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, granted a charter to the organization on October 27, 1873. John L. Pingel was elected first grand master.
A meeting hall, built on the John Pingel farm shortly after the grange was organized, was destroyed by a fire in 1880. The Grange met in a second
hall on the Pingel farm until 1894, when the farm was sold and the organization needed a larger meeting place. At that time the Grange moved to its present location near the intersection of Highway 45 and County Trunk BB in Outagamie County and built a meeting hall there. The first building on this site was dismantled in 1928 and the present hall was constructed at that time. The new building was dedicated on June 30, 1929.
Most of the activities of the Grange were educational and social events such as talent shows, dances, dinners, children's programs, and musical performances. The organization also worked actively to promote agricultural legislation, especially the organizing and expanding of extension services and county and home agent programs. The South Greenville Grange celebrated its centennial on August 26, 1973. Among those honored at the celebration were nine members who had been active continuously for a period of fifty to sixty-five years. Grand masters have included John Pingel, John Zachow, Julius Waite, A. J. Nagel, Henry Schultz, Herman Ihde, Charles Haase, George Schaefer, William Menning, R. J. Schaefer, Wallace Pingel, John Schaefer, Herbert Wickesberg, Henry D. Schaefer, Harold Reinders, Earl Pingel, Ann Crawford, and Paul Porter.
