Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/6/2021
GRANVILLE – The virtual tour of the Noble and Cooley Drum Factory is complete and available online for the viewing pleasure of local history enthusiasts.
The virtual tour can be found at Kuula.co. It features a look inside of the oldest drum company in the U.S. and is narrated by Westfield resident Jay Pagluica with photographs by Southwick resident Fred Gore. The tour is sponsored by the Westfield Historical Committee, which has sponsored similar tours of local historical landmarks.
Noble and Cooley can be traced back to 1854. Granville natives Silas Noble and James P. Cooley had been making drums in their farmhouse kitchen. Six years later, the company was producing 40,000 drum sets per year. In 1873, that number was up to 100,000.
In the introduction of the virtual tour, Pagluica gives the viewer a sense of the company’s age by pointing out that they have operated with water power, steam power and modern electricity. Noble and Cooley has also fulfilled orders for drums from the likes of Taylor Swift, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney and other musicians across multiple eras.
Throughout the tour, Pagluica talks about the history of the company, some of its most notable customers and pieces, and some of the methods and machinery Noble and Cooley used to manufacture drums.
Noble and Cooley Drum Factory is located at 42 Water St., Granville.