Cranberries have always played a role in Wareham's history, so what better place would there be for a 133-year-old relic of the industry?

A rare "Middlesex Cranberry Sorter" made in 1882 in Plymouth has a new home at the Cranberry Marketing Committee office at 219 Main St. in Wareham.

Anna Waclawiczek, communications director of the Cranberry Marketing Committee said the sorter machine was donated by Jennie Lee Colosi, president of E.T. & L. Construction Company in Stow.

According to Colosi, the sorter belonged to Zander brothers, Niles and Tom, of 65 Delaney St. in Stow.

"The separator was made in Plymouth in the 1880s. It was in the Zander barn for years and we have had it on display in our office for about 10 years," said Colosi.

Colosi said the E.T.& L. company built an earthen dam up the street from the Zanders many years ago. Her father, Anthony, got to know them and bought some property from them in the 1970s to relocate E.T. &L. from Dedham to Stow.

The Zanders made cider, delivered milk and harvested cranberries from the Delaney Pond in Stow, according to Colosi.

"Niles was quite the machinist and did some small repairs for us on equipment and tools while we built the dam," she said.

Thanks to Colosi and Stow Historic Commissioner Dwight Stipler, the sorter was donated to the Cranberry Marketing Committee. The sorter was then carried up a flight of stairs into the committee's office on Main St.

While the sorter appears to be in working condition, it might not meet the standard of modern machines, as seen in the accompanied video from this year's A.D. Makepeace Cranberry Harvest Celebration.