Veto

Groveland’s first piece of firefighting apparatus was the Veto hand tub, built in 1798. On April 25, 1828, Dr. Jeremiah Spofford purchased the hand tub for $300 from the Town of Roxbury.  Around 1841, the tub was restored and the name changed to Veto, in honor of President Tyler’s veto of a fiscal bill passed by a Whig Congress. In 1886, the town voted to buy a fire engine and to preserve the old Veto.  It was last restored in 1960 and is currently housed in a specially-built section of the town hall building.