West Springfield, Massachusetts West Springfield, Massachusetts Flag of West Springfield, Massachusetts Flag Official seal of West Springfield, Massachusetts West Springfield, Massachusetts is positioned in the US West Springfield, Massachusetts - West Springfield, Massachusetts Website Town of West Springfield, Massachusetts West Springfield is a town/city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States.
It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The town/city is also known as "West Side", in reference to the fact that it is on the side of the Connecticut River from Springfield, a fact which played a primary part in the town's early history.
1.10.1 Interstate 91 prepared for West Springfield 6.1 Mayors of West Springfield The region that became known as West Springfield was settled in 1635.
The pioneer fled to higher ground on the east side of the river and established Springfield in the aftermath of the great hurricane of 1635.
West Springfield was good farm land, so some families did stay on the west side.
The Hay Place was created between the current town common and East School Street, for citizens who farmed or mowed on territory grants on the west side to leave their crops while they awaited transport back to the easterly side.
Early in that decade, Springfield had made a provision that any able-bodied man (and his work animals) could be required to work up to six eight-hour days on small-town roads (the barter economy equivalent of an transit framework tax).
In 1666, the west side inhabitants complained about having to work on east side roads while their own were not well taken care of.
West side churches were also created for Agawam (1696), Feeding Hills (1800), and Holyoke ("North Parish" or "Ireland Parish" titled for early Irish pioneer John and Mary Riley; created at some point before 1831).
The Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law in 1647 requiring the assembly of a enhance school in any town with 50 or more families.
In 1706 after two years of petitioning, west side inhabitants were granted funds for the assembly of a school (though west side students might have been home-schooled before that time). In 1707, the west side church was delegated from Springfield town meeting the right to grant territory in its territory. Given the closing need to cross the Connecticut River to attend town meetings, and east-west tension over resource allocation, the west side inhabitants petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to be incorporated as a separate town in 1756.
On 23 February 1774, West Springfield was incorporated as a separate town, with territory including what is now Agawam and most of Holyoke. Another dispute was immediately created when the charter of the town inhibited it from taxing the property of Springfield inhabitants inside its boundaries.
This law was later changed to apply only until such property was sold, but the last such parcel did not turn into taxable by West Springfield until the 1860s. West Springfield minutemen participated in the American Revolutionary War beginning on April 20, 1775, the day after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In 1777, a primary contingent of Hessian and British troops were captured at the Battle of Saratoga and transported to Boston (for possible deportation or imprisonment).
While encamped in West Springfield, some of the German mercenaries stayed and married into the small-town population. Economic conditions after the Revolution led to Shays' Rebellion in Springfield and West Springfield in 1786-87.
Winter weather has also caused momentous damage at times amid West Springfield's history.
On June 1, 2011, a tornado touched down in West Springfield, crossed the Connecticut River, and then devastated the City of Springfield, Massachusetts.
The 2011 Springfield Tornado devastated densely populated parts of West Springfield, causing two fatalities in the town/city - including a mother who died while shielding her 15-year-old daughter. U.S.
President Barack Obama declared the region surrounding West Springfield and Springfield a federal disaster area. Growing populace and improved transit links increased the size of the potential market; by 1860, West Springfield was using arboretums and exporting fresh crops to Boston.
Agriculture remained an meaningful part of the West Springfield economy for many decades, but territory evolution and economic shifts led to a decline, and by the 1940s, it was a minor activeness in the town. The annual fall fair is by far West Springfield's biggest tourist attraction and one of the biggest fairs in the country.
The first Morgan Horse was bred in West Springfield in 1789-90. Paper manufacturing became a primary county-wide industry, including inside the town limits encompassed (mostly clustered on the Agawam River) the Southworth Paper Company (1839), the Agawam Paper Company (1859), the Agawam Canal Company, the Springfield Glazed Paper Company (1882), the Worthy Paper Company (1892), the Mittineague Paper Company (1892, later known as the Strathmore Paper Company and acquired by International Paper) The Western Railroad opened for freight and passenger service in 1841, connecting West Springfield to Worcester, Boston, the Berkshires, and upstate New York.
West Springfield became a primary transportation hub, and the barns became one of the biggest employers in the town for many decades.
Repair shops were also assembled in West Springfield in 1896, and at the peak of operations, there were two primary rail yards - one in Mittineague, and one near the present-day Memorial Avenue.
The initial horsecar street car, directed by the Springfield Street Railway, opened in 1877 from Main Street in Springfield to Elm and Park Streets, via Main Street and the old toll bridge at Bridge Street.
Over the years, extensions were made to the Holyoke Street Railway (via Riverdale Road, 1895), Tatham (1896) the Woronoco Street Railway (in Westfield, 1899), the Connecticut border via Riverside Park (now Six Flags New England) in Agawam (1900), Feeding Hills (1902), and eventually the Suffield Street Railway in Connecticut (making the Hartford-West Side Line possible, 1905). Conversion from steam to diesel locomotives shut down the West Springfield repair shop in 1956. With the rise of the automobile, the West Springfield (Mittineague) passenger barns station closed in 1957. Amtrak service is still available to Springfield, and the central rail yard is still in active use for freight by CSX, the present-day successor of this part of the Boston & Albany.
The power plant positioned in West Springfield A primary power plant for the Western Massachusetts Electric Company (now a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities) went online in West Springfield in 1949. Even more substantial canal and foundry evolution took place in the "North Parish" or "Ireland Parish" of West Springfield, which was favorably positioned near Hadley Falls.
The region mainly south of the Westfield River, including the churches of Agawam and Feeding Hills, was incorporated as the autonomous town of Agawam, Massachusetts in 1855.
Route 5 (currently, also known as Riverdale Road) was modified to bypass the downtowns of Springfield and West Springfield as new segments were constructed on the West Springfield and Agawam waterfronts in 1938, 1941 42, and 1952-53.
Interstate 91 was constructed over a dozen years, from 1958 to 1970, following considerable controversy over whether it should be placed in West Springfield, as originally planned, or in Springfield, as that city's creators wished. The initial plan for Interstate 91 - specified in the 1953 Master Highway Plan for the Springfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Area - called for Interstate 91 to occupy an enlarged U.S.
Route 5 in West Springfield - the route which had, historically, been used to reach West Springfield and Springfield from both the north and the south.
Between 1953 and 1958, Riverdale Road was widened in places, added on to, and various businesses were closed and moved back, or to other parts of West Springfield to make way for Interstate 91, which was prepared to connect with Springfield via various bridges. The initial plan for I-91 would have likely benefitted West Springfield, which already had U.S.
5 passing through, causing travelers to patronize many of West Springfield's businesses.
In 1958, however, Springfield's town/city creators - seemingly without regard for West Springfield's economy, or foresight for their own city's economy - campaigned vociferously for Interstate 91 to occupy Springfield's riverfront.
Their reasoning at the time was that Springfield, being a more crowded city than West Springfield, should have a primary highway routed through it.
Indeed, Springfield's 1958 town/city creators advocated that the assembly of I-91 on Springfield's riverfront would catalyze economic expansion comparable to that experienced amid the great barns expansion of the mid-19th century. Although West Springfield had a right and legal claim to Interstate 91, Massachusetts highway officials relented to Springfield's intense pressure when confronted with a technicality: a short, existing section of US 5 through West Springfield that was assembled in 1952-53 floundered to meet Interstate design standards.
Thus the plans for I-91 in West Springfield were shelved, and moved to the east bank of the river in Springfield, where an elevated highway was designed (as opposed to the prepared ground-grade highway in West Springfield.) After Interstate 91 was constructed in Springfield, that town/city did not experience anything like the prosperity boom predicted by its town/city creators in 1958.
I-91's assembly in Springfield coincided with the beginning of that city's four decades of decline.
Unlike West Springfield's U.S.
Due to I-91's adjacency to both Springfield's densely assembled downtown and the city's riverfront, there has never been enough space in Springfield to build more than a several of these businesses.
Thus Springfield never received the economic benefit that it expected from I-91 - and which, as stated to recent academic assessments by the UMass School of Urban Design, West Springfield would have. It is on the west side of the Connecticut River, athwart from Springfield, and on the north side of the Westfield River, above Agawam.
West Springfield is bordered on the west by linear cliffs of volcanic trap modern known as East Mountain.
West Springfield is positioned 27 miles (43 km) away from Hartford, 90 miles (140 km) away from Boston, 85 miles (137 km) from Albany, 48 miles (77 km) away from Pittsfield and 139 miles (224 km) from New York City.
Town Common Formerly used for the town meeting home, church, and militia, the current tree-lined park was laid out in 1866 by Edward Parsons and other townspeople. The encircling streets were at this time retitled from "Broadway" to "Park Street" and "Park Avenue". Main article: Neighborhoods of West Springfield, MA There are no airports in West Springfield, the nearest airport with commercial passenger flights is Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, though there are other military and general aviation airports in the area.
As for transportation, a several bus lines on the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus fitness service West Springfield from routes crossing over from Springfield: West Springfield was originally governed by an open town meeting, and then a representative town meeting starting in 1922. The town meetings were presided over by the town moderator.
West Springfield is one of fourteen Massachusetts municipalities that have applied for, and been granted, town/city forms of government but wish to retain "The town of" in their official names. The first mayor who held office was Edward Gibson, who stayed in office for five consecutive terms.
West Springfield has its own school district, police department, fire department, library, department of enhance works, community department, and department of parks and recreation.
West Springfield Fire Department was created in 1883 and current has 11 apparatus serving out of one fire hall.
The school precinct has controlled by an autonomous school committee since 1827 and maintains a central high school, middle school, and a number of elementary schools.
The West Springfield Public Library was established in 1864. It moved from the town hall to a dedicated building in 1915, constructed with a donation from Andrew Carnegie.
An addition was opened in 1959. In fiscal year 2008, the town/city of West Springfield spent 0.91% ($765,760) of its budget on its enhance library some $27 per person. West Springfield has many schools.
The schools are run by the city's school fitness (West Springfield Public Schools).
The West Springfield High School teaches Grades 9-12.
The West Springfield Middle School teaches Grades 6-8.
Four of the Elementary Schools teach 1st through 5th grade, while Coburn Elementary teaches Kindergarten and Grades 1-5, John Ashley School teaches Pre-School and Kindergarten.
The town's school athletic squads are called the "Terriers" Other schools include: West Springfield Middle School West Springfield High School 425 Piper Road Coburn Elementary School was assembled in 1923/4 as West Springfield Junior High School and added to in 1928/9, operating as a undertaking 7-8 junior high school.
Cowing School was opened as the town's first stand-alone high school in 1915, and when the new high school on Piper Rd.
As West Springfield moved to the middle-school format, Coburn and Cowing assumed their current functions.
West Springfield High School was moved from the Cowing building in 1956 to Piper Road.
A new West Springfield High School building is under assembly to the north of the existing building and is scheduled to open in February 2014.
After the assembly of the first high school on Piper Road, Cowing School was originally slated for demolition, but the new high school had been under-built for the surging student population, and 9th graders were moved to Cowing from 1960 until the high school addition opened in 1966.
From 1966 to 1981, Cowing School served as a junior high school.
Cowing Junior High School (formerly the High School from 1915 to 1956) was designated an elementary school.
Before the opening of West Springfield Middle School in 1998, the town struggled with increased enrollment.
In 1990, Piper Road School opened in a wing of the high school, housing all the town's 6th graders, and creating the undertaking 1-5 elementary school structure that remains in most buildings.
With the opening of the middle school, this space reverted to the high school.
West Springfield Middle School opened in 1998 for grades 6-8.
West Springfield Junior High School was designated an elementary school and titled the Philip G.
Coburn School in memory of a well-loved townsman who was a former educator and longtime editor of the West Springfield Record.
Cowing Elementary School was closed and sections of the building were used for different educational purposes until the precinct adopted full-day kindergarten and early childhood (pre-K) students were assigned to Cowing School.
West Springfield is considered to be part of the Springfield-Hartford Knowledge Corridor.
With easy access to the north-south Interstate 91, east-west Massachusetts Turnpike, and various freight barns s, West Springfield is sometimes called the "crossroads of New England".
The 110-mile (180 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (a hiking trail) passes through the part of West Springfield on the East Mountain and Provin Mountain ridgeline.
There are two shopping malls in West Springfield: There is only one small-town newspaper, the weekly (every Thursday) town journal West Springfield Record was established in 1953 with circulation about 5,500.
Television and radio service originates from other metros/cities outside of West Springfield.
ABC's short-lived 2004-05 sitcom Complete Savages used West Springfield as its setting.
Moses, founder of the Strathmore (Mittineague) Paper Company (1892) and West Springfield Trust Company (1919), and small-town philanthropist "Town of West Springfield, Massachusetts".
Town of West Springfield, Massachusetts.
West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Although it is called the "Town of West Springfield," it is a statutory town/city of Massachusetts.
Through the Years / West Springfield / 1774-1974.
West Springfield mother dies while shielding 15-year-old daughter from tornado.
An Historical Address / Delivered before the people of Springfield in Massachusetts at the enhance celebration May 26, 1911 of the Two Hundred and Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Settlement with Five Appendices, by Charles H.
"1990 Enumeration of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts" (PDF).
"1980 Enumeration of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts" (PDF).
West Springfield Massachusetts: A Town History.
West Springfield Heritage Association.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for West Springfield (Massachusetts).
City of West Springfield, Massachusetts (Official website)
Categories:
West Springfield, Massachusetts - Cities in Massachusetts - Cities in Hampden County, Massachusetts - Populated places established in 1660 - Springfield, Massachusetts urbane region - Populated places on the Connecticut River - 1660 establishments in Massachusetts
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