Noble & Cooley Drum

In January of 1854, Silas Noble and James P. Cooley started making Drums in the Noble farmhouse kitchen. Their drum was an immediate success. In a few weeks they moved into a small building and after two years built their first factory. In 1860 Noble & Cooley Co. made a Drum of a rail split by Abraham Lincoln which was used in political rallies in Massachusetts and Connecticut. This Drum was presented to the 10th Massachusetts Regiment and finally found a resting place in the United States Patent Office. During the Civil War the Company boomed making Drums for the Northern Regiments. At this time, many changes occurred with expansion to a larger factory and change from Water Power to Steam Engine, all influencing the continued growth of the Company. A few years later they made the Largest Drum on record, it being Eight Feet in Diameter. This Drum was made especially for use in Boston in 1869 at Gilmore's National Peace Jubilee, and later used in the 1876 Centennial. Noble & Cooley Co. made not only Military Drums of all sizes, but also Toy Drums. In 1854, the Company produced 631 Drums; by 1873 they were manufacturing 100,000 Drums a year! Special machinery was designed and built to aid in the difficult process of Steam Bending, Decorating and Fabricating the Drum parts. Many of these machines have been restored for use on this line of reproductions. Granville, our home, is a typical small New England Village in the foothills of the Berkshires. The business is still owned and operated by the descendants of James P. Cooley and retains the original firm name. Through the years, improvements in buildings and manufacturing processes have been made, but the company has retained much of its antiquity and charm