42°20′N 72°50′W / 42.333°N 72.833°W / 42.333; -72.833
90-604: Museums10 is a consortium of art, science, and history museums in Western Massachusetts . It includes art museums from the Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield . This Massachusetts museum–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts , known colloquially as "western Mass," is a region in Massachusetts , one of
180-517: A circular way), Nonotuck (in the midst of the river), Pocumtuck (narrow, swift river), and Sokoki (separated from their neighbors). The modern-day Springfield metropolitan area was inhabited by the Agawam people . The Agawam, as well as other groups, belong to the larger cultural category of Alongkian Indians . In 1634, a plague, probably smallpox , reduced the Native American population of
270-849: A great number of them . Sassacus was able to escape to the Mohawks , who immediately killed him and his party, sending his scalp to Boston. With the Pequots vanquished the Treaty of Hartford was signed between Connecticut, the Mohegans, and the Narragansett, granting the Connecticut settlers the exclusive right to the former Pequot land and dissolving the Pequot as both a political and cultural entity, with surviving Pequots made to assimilate into
360-405: A long process of repatriation began. Tensions between the colonists and surrounding Indian tribes, which had already been poor for some time, continued to deteriorate in the years preceding the outbreak of King Philip's War . Colonial encroachment on Indian lands combined with the decimation of the native population with European diseases led to increasing Native resentment and hostility towards
450-542: A microcosm of the rest of the United States. The third largest city in Massachusetts, Springfield is situated in the region, and it has struggled financially coming close to bankruptcy at the beginning of the 21st century. The unemployment rate in the area lags behind that of eastern Massachusetts by double though officials have pushed for ways to lure more longer-term business growth into the region to tap
540-793: A push for adding high-speed rail from western Massachusetts for eastern Massachusetts. The residents of western Massachusetts have vibrant culture in and support the local mix of arts, tourism, and culture. The decline of manufacturing as the region's economic engine since World War II—and in particular, since the controversial closing of the Springfield Armory —was counterbalanced in western Massachusetts by growth in post-secondary education and healthcare. This created new jobs, land development, and had gentrifying effects in many college towns . State and community-funded schools (e.g., University of Massachusetts Amherst and Westfield State University ) were conspicuous in their growth, as were
630-428: A ring around the stockades to kill anyone attempting to escape. The Indian allies formed a second ring to catch anyone who managed to escape the first. Hundreds of Pequots died, many of the women and children. Their spirits broken, many of the Pequot attempted to flee west. Mason, accompanied by Israel Stoughton pursued a group of three hundred Pequots to a swamp near modern Fairfield , where they killed and captured
720-533: A significant donation to the college, it was renamed Yale College in his honor. The Connecticut Courant , the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States, was founded in Hartford in 1764. Connecticut was a staunch supporter of the American Revolution, with a fifth of the state's male population serving in the war. Jonathan Trumbull was the only colonial governor to support
810-728: A term interchangeable with the Hill Towns west of the Pioneer Valley. The mountain range in Berkshire County at the western end of Massachusetts is conventionally known as the "Berkshires". Geologically, however, the Berkshires are a westward continuation of uplands west of the Connecticut River and a southern extension of Vermont's Green Mountains . The Hilltown-Berkshire upland ends at the valley of
900-567: A trading post on the Connecticut. Besides the English settlers, they took some of the original sachems of the area to prove the validity of their claim. As they passed Fort Good Hope they were threatened by the Dutch, a threat ignored by Holmes. Holmes proceeded a few miles up river and constructed a trading post on the modern site of Windsor . Hearing of the English activities, New Netherland governor Wouter Van Twiller dispatched 70 men to dislodge
990-494: A variety of other methods. Native people began to construct and gather in palisaded “forts”―structures that were not necessary beforehand. These sites were excavated in the 19th and 20th centuries by anthropologists who took cultural objects and human remains and displayed them for years in area museums. With the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990,
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#17327918819231080-590: A war against colonial expansion in New England which spread across the region. As the conflict grew in its initial months, colonists throughout western Massachusetts became deeply concerned with maintaining the loyalty of "their Indians." The Agawams cooperated, even providing valuable intelligence to the colonists. In August 1675, a group of colonists in Hadley demanded the disarming of a “fort” of Nonotuck Indians. Unwilling to relinquish their weapons, they left on
1170-561: Is an ancient downfaulted graben or rift valley that formed during the Mesozoic Era when rifting developed in the Pangaea supercontinent to separate North America from Europe and South America from Africa. Secondary rifts branched off the main crustal fracture, and this one was eventually occupied by the Connecticut River. The Metacomet Ridge is a series of narrow traprock ridges where lava penetrated this rift zone, beginning at
1260-668: Is sometimes regarded as defining western Massachusetts; for example, the Western Massachusetts Office of the Governor serves residents of these counties. Towns at the western edge of Worcester County , especially those near the Quabbin Reservoir , may be considered to be in western Massachusetts for some purposes; for example, two Worcester County towns have telephone numbers in western Massachusetts's area code 413 . Hampden County, with over half of
1350-546: The Boston metropolitan area . Innovations originating in the valley include the sports of basketball ( James Naismith , 1895) and volleyball ( William Morgan , 1895); the first American automobile ( Duryea , 1893); the first motorcycle company ( Indian , 1901); the first use of interchangeable parts in manufacturing ( Thomas Blanchard , 1825); and the first commercial radio station, ( WBZ , 1920, from Springfield's Kimball Hotel ). Significant Massachusetts towns and cities in
1440-749: The Connecticut border. Numerous other towns stretching east towards Worcester are sometimes included in the Quaboag Valley region. Geology is similar to the Hilltown-Berkshire uplands with resistant metamorphic rocks overlain by thin and rocky soil. With less relief, the river valleys are less pronounced, but still moderately high gradient. The Quaboag Hills and Valley, the Quabbin Regions, and populated places stretching east towards Worcester are all locally known as "Hill Towns";
1530-668: The Connecticut River Colony , was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut . It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritan congregation of settlers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony led by Thomas Hooker . The English would secure their control of the region in the Pequot War . Over the course of the colony's history it would absorb
1620-585: The First Anglo-Dutch War . The war's outbreak enabled Connecticut to seize Fort Good Hope in 1653. After the restoration of the Stuart monarchy , many in Connecticut feared their colony's Puritanism and lack of a royal charter would lead to Charles II curtailing the colony's self government. Governor John Winthrop Jr. was sent to England in 1662 where he successfully obtained a charter. The charter granted Connecticut extensive liberties, with
1710-726: The Holyoke Range and the Mount Tom Range , this relatively small area contains a number of college towns, urban environments, and rural hamlets. The portion of this valley in Massachusetts is also commonly referred to as the Pioneer Valley . At its southern tip, the Springfield-Hartford region is home to 29 colleges and universities and over 160,000 university students—the United States' second highest concentration of higher learning institutions after
1800-742: The Housatonic River which flows south to Long Island Sound, and in the extreme north west of Massachusetts at the Hoosic River , a tributary of the Hudson . From these valleys, uplands to the east appear as a rounded mountain range, rising some 1,600 feet (490 meters) although they are actually a plateau . West of the Housatonic-Hoosic valley system rises the narrower Taconic Range along the New York border. Upper tributaries of
1890-637: The Industrial Revolution . There was hardly a land rush into such marginal land, but the uplands were slowly settled by farmers throughout most of the 18th century and organized into townships . Then in the early 1800s better land opened up in Western New York and the Northwest Territory . The hilltown agricultural population went into a long decline and fields began reverting to forest. The Connecticut River Valley
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#17327918819231980-418: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990 ordered museums across western Massachusetts and the country to repatriate these remains to Native peoples, an ongoing process. The region was inhabited by several Algonkian-speaking Native American communities, culturally connected but distinguished by the place names they assigned to their respective communities: Agawam (low land), Woronco (in
2070-674: The New England Confederation to mutually defend the colonies against the Dutch, French, and Indians. Before leaving for England, Fenwick, along with Hopkins, would serve as Connecticut's first commissioners to the Confederation. Connecticut's membership in the Confederation also meant it sent troops to fight in King Philip's War , though Connecticut itself was minimally impacted. Like its fellow Puritan colonies, Connecticut would welcome Cromwell's victory in
2160-670: The New Hampshire border. The South Quabbin region (formerly the Swift River Valley) includes the towns of Barre , Belchertown , Pelham , Ware , Hardwick , Leverett , and Shutesbury . This area once included the four "Lost Towns" of Enfield, Dana, Greenwich, and Prescott, which were destroyed to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir . Farther south, the area called the Quaboag Hills includes Hampden , Monson , Wales , Warren , Holland , and Wilbraham on
2250-724: The Wappinger Confederacy along the western coast and the Niantics on the eastern coast. Further inland were the Pequot , who pushed the Niantic to the coast and would become the most important tribe in relations with colonists. Also present were the Nipmunks and Mohicans , though these two tribes largely lived in the neighboring states of Massachusetts and New York respectively. The first European to visit Connecticut
2340-534: The patriots . Nathan Hale , the first American spy, also hailed from the colony. The original colonies along the Connecticut River and in New Haven were established by separatist Puritans who were connected with the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies. They held Calvinist religious beliefs similar to the English Puritans, but they maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from
2430-510: The 17th century and developed with greater diversity and an increased focus on production for distant markets, especially the British colonies in the Caribbean . The American Revolution cut off imports from Britain and stimulated a manufacturing sector that made heavy use of the entrepreneurship and mechanical skills of the people. In the second half of the 18th century, difficulties arose from
2520-673: The American Revolution, a rebellion led by Daniel Shays culminated in a battle at the National Armory in Springfield. The Berkshires have long been patronized by artists (e.g. Herman Melville , who wrote Moby-Dick while living in Pittsfield ; Edith Wharton , who wrote The House of Mirth and Ethan Frome while living in Lenox ; and Norman Rockwell , many of whose painting were based on scenes that he observed in
2610-571: The Chapter 70 structure which the state presently uses to allocate education funding to cities and towns. Western Massachusetts used to be the Republican stronghold in an otherwise heavily Democratic state, but it is now consistently viewed by political analysts as one of the most politically liberal regions in the United States. In 2006 and 2010, the region voted heavily in favor of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick . In Crash!ng
2700-641: The Connecticut River Valley produced streams and rivers with gradients around 40 feet/mile (8 meters/km) flowing through steep-sided valleys, notably the Westfield and Deerfield rivers and their larger tributaries. Mills were built to exploit the kinetic energy of falling water, and mill towns grew up around them, or company towns integrating production, residential and commercial activities. The development of steam engines to free industrialization from reliance on water power brought about
2790-612: The Connecticut River Valley to a tiny percentage of its previous size. Governor Bradford of Massachusetts writes that in Windsor , notably the site of a trading post, where European diseases often spread to Native populations, "of 1,000 of [the Native Americans] 150 of them died." With so many dead, English colonists were emboldened to attempt significant settlement of the region. The first European explorers to reach western Massachusetts were English Puritans , who in 1635, at
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2880-474: The Dutch. Connecticut sent a force of ninety men, led by John Mason . The force was joined by sixty Mohegans led by Uncas and came to Saybrook where a group of Massachusetts men led by Underhill joined them. On May 26, 1637, the group, encamped outside a fortified Pequot village on the Mystic River , launched a surprise attack at dawn. The English charged into the village, set it on fire, and formed
2970-556: The English state church. They had immigrated to New England during the Great Migration . In the middle of the 18th century, the government restricted voting rights with a property qualification and a church membership requirement. Congregationalism was the established church in the colony by the time of the American War of Independence until it was disestablished in 1818. The economy began with subsistence farming in
3060-522: The English. The Dutch would find the English well prepared to defend themselves and left, seeking to avoid bloodshed. Meanwhile, John Oldham led a group of men from the Bay Colony to the river to see Connecticut for themselves. They returned with accounts of plentiful beaver, hemp, and graphite. A year later, Oldham would lead a group of settlers to found the town of Wethersfield . By 1635, Massachusetts' English population had grown immensely and it
3150-621: The Hoosic separate Massachusetts' highest peak, Mount Greylock 3,491 ft (1,064 meters) from both ranges, however Greylock's geology connects it with the Taconics. Most of this region is a rolling upland of schist , gneiss and other resistant metamorphics with intrusions of pegmatite and granite . Scraping by continental glaciers during the Pleistocene left thin, rocky soil that supported hardscrabble subsistence farming before
3240-834: The Massachusetts legislative and executive branches know little of and care little about western Massachusetts, which comprises 20% of the total population of the state. Among the incidents that have created this feeling: Long a haven for small, independent businesses, western Massachusetts has expressed conflicted feelings towards big box corporations, leading to controversies about zoning changes and variances that would allow companies such as Wal-Mart to build in western Massachusetts towns. The debate has been particularly strong in northern towns; for example, in Greenfield, Massachusetts . The following regional transit authorities operate in western Massachusetts: Connecticut Colony The Connecticut Colony , originally known as
3330-612: The Party , Ralph Nader includes western Massachusetts as one of the few places in the country where he believes small-town spirit is still strong. In a 2010 editorial, the Boston Globe berated communities in northern western-Massachusetts for resisting efforts to force consolidation of local school districts. In response, the Franklin County School Committee Caucus released a map that overlaid
3420-417: The Pequot. The Pequot also claimed to be unable to distinguish the Dutch from the English. Disbelieving these claims and seeing there were no women or children among the Pequot, Endecott attacked, beginning the war. The Pequot responded by besieging Saybrook and attacking Wethersfield, where they would kill nine and take two women hostage. The women were daughters of William Swaine and would later be rescued by
3510-542: The abundance of students being turned out by colleges and universities in the area. To combat the higher cost of telecommunications which were roughly double that of eastern Massachusetts, the government of the Commonwealth invested $ 45.4 Million in building out a broadband network using Federal grant under the 'Massachusetts Technology Park - MassBroadband 123' initiative, funds which were matched by $ 45 million in federal investment. The 1,200 mile 'middle mile' project
3600-575: The charter had vanished, safely hidden away in a nearby oak tree. The tree, which became known as the Charter Oak would endure as a symbol of Connecticut for generations. Andros replaced Puritan officials with Anglicans and imposed heavy taxes. His salary of £1,200 exceeded the entire annual expenditure of Massachusetts' former government. When James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution , Andros initially attempted to suppress
3690-537: The civil war. The new English government, however, would soon cause issues for Connecticut. The Confederation negotiated the Treaty of Hartford defining the border between New Netherland and the English colonies, but the government in England refused to ratify it. Tensions with the Dutch would be inflamed by the Navigation Act 1651 , restricting foreign trade with the colonies. These tensions would culminate in
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3780-421: The coastal Massachusetts Bay Colony , shaping the region's political boundaries. The Massachusetts Bay Colony settled at the Connecticut River Valley's most fertile land―stretching from Windsor, Connecticut , (once part of Springfield,) to Northampton, Massachusetts ―from 1636 to 1654. For the next several decades, Native people experienced a complex relationship with European settlers. The fur trade stood at
3870-545: The colonists in exchange for the future promise of beavers. However, trade with the colonists made pelts so lucrative that the beaver was rapidly overhunted. The volume of the trade fell, from a 1654 high of 3723 pelts to a mere 191 ten years later. With every mortgage, Native people lost more land, although their population recovered and expanded from the old plague. In a process that historian Lisa Brooks calls "the deed game", colonists acquired an increasing amount of land from Indian tribes through debt, fraudulent purchases and
3960-634: The colonists. Though some Indians became integrated into colonial society, with many being employed in white households, numerous pieces of legislation were passed which prevented Indians from marrying settlers and staying in colonial settlements after dark, while colonists were prevented from living among the Indians. In 1662, the leader of the eastern Massachusetts Wampanoag Indian tribe, Wamsutta , died shortly after being questioned at gunpoint by Plymouth colonists. Wamsutta's brother, Chief Metacomet (known to inhabitants of Springfield as "Philip,") began
4050-493: The county north-to-south over Metro Boston. The overlay reached from Rhode Island in the south to New Hampshire in the north and Framingham in the west. In 2008 the Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts opened a local office in western Massachusetts. The western portion of Massachusetts consists approximately of the four counties of Franklin , Hampshire , Hampden and Berkshire . This set of four counties
4140-517: The creation of Lake Hitchcock in Deerfield by a giant beaver, possibly representing the action of a glacier that retracted at least 12,000 years ago. Western Massachusetts was originally settled by Native American societies, including the Pocomtuc , Nonotuck Mohawk , Nipmuck , and Mahican . Various sites indicate millennia of fishing, horticulture, beaver-hunting, and burials. The passage of
4230-719: The development of tourism throughout that valley. This far-western zone is linked to New York City and Albany, New York , more than with the rest of Massachusetts, however both populated zones are ultimately part of the Northeast megalopolis . The rest of western Massachusetts is lightly populated, particularly the Hilltowns where densities below 50 persons per square mile (20 per km ) are the rule. In descending order of size, its largest communities are: Springfield, Chicopee, Pittsfield, Westfield, Holyoke, Northampton, Agawam, West Springfield, Amherst Center (CDP), Easthampton, Longmeadow (CDP), East Longmeadow, North Adams , and Greenfield (CDP). Western Massachusetts has been compared as
4320-515: The era of Lake Hitchcock accounts for this region's exceptionally rich agricultural soil, which attracted settlers as early as 1635. Although the Connecticut River Valley's soil is the richest in New England, many of its fields have been covered by urban and suburban development. Regardless, the valley remains New England 's most productive farmland. Tobacco, tomatoes, sweet corn, and other vegetables are still produced there in commercial quantities. Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties, in
4410-470: The escarpment zone. On top, elevations rise gradually to the west. Williamsburg in Hampshire County and Becket in Berkshire County are prominent hilltowns. Generally, the hilltowns west of the Connecticut River Valley were less attractive for agricultural uses, which resulted in later migration there than, for example, the fertile Connecticut River Valley. Subsistence farming predominated in this area. The 1,000-foot elevation difference between uplands and
4500-446: The first legislative session in New Haven to create a college for the colony, with Saybrook as the site and Abraham Pierson as the first rector. Pierson would run the college from his home in Killingworth until his death in 1707, when it was finally moved to Saybrook. Saybrook would soon prove to be too remote and New Haven was able to beat out other communities for the site of the college in 1716. Two years later, when Elihu Yale made
4590-495: The future sites of Saybrook and Hartford respectively. In 1631, a group of sachems from the Connecticut valley led by Wahquimacut visited Plymouth Colony and Boston, asking both colonies to send settlers to Connecticut to fight the Pequot. Massachusetts governor John Winthrop rejected the proposal but Edward Winslow , governor of Plymouth was more open, traveling to Connecticut in person in 1632. Winslow, along with William Bradford would later travel to Boston to convince
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#17327918819234680-498: The heart of their economic interactions, a lucrative business that guided many other policy decisions. White settlers traded wampum, cloth and metal in exchange for furs, as well as horticultural produce. Because of the seasonal nature of goods provided by Native people compared with the constant availability of colonial goods, a credit system developed. Land, the natural resource whose availability did not fluctuate, served as collateral for mortgages in which Native people bought goods from
4770-403: The island he claimed it not for Connecticut but for himself. The Duke of York would ascend to the throne as King James II and VII. As one of his first acts, he would consolidate the English colonies from West Jersey to Maine into the Dominion of New England . Sir Edmund Andros would be appointed governor of the new united colony. Andros demanded that Connecticut hand over its charter as it
4860-416: The late 1990s (including Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Berkshire and Worcester), most county functions were assigned to the state government. The municipalities of Franklin and Hampshire counties then organized two voluntary county-oriented "regional councils of government". Some residents of western Massachusetts are critical towards Boston , the state's capital and largest city. This group believes that
4950-427: The latter dispute, but the resentment of Winthrop remained. After Dudley replaced Winthrop as governor in May 1634, the issue of Hooker's congregation's desire for removal to Connecticut was raised in the General Court . Opponents of the removal countered with a proposal that settlers instead settle Agawam and Merrimack . Both sites proved unsatisfactory, but removal was nonetheless delayed for two years. Despite
5040-412: The leaders of Massachusetts Bay to join Plymouth in constructing a trading post on the Connecticut River before the Dutch could. Winthrop rejected the offer, calling Connecticut "not fit to meddle with" citing hostile Indians and the difficulty of moving large ships into the Connecticut River. Despite the Bay Colony's refusal to join the venture, Plymouth sent a bark led by William Holmes to establish
5130-485: The mistaken identity of the ship. When asked to turn over the killers, the envoy claimed all but two of the killers had died of a recent smallpox epidemic and they lacked the authority to turn over the two survivors. The Pequot further claimed the killing was justified as Stone had captured two Pequots and mistreated them. When John Gallup was sailing to Long Island he spotted a pinnace belonging to John Oldham, its deck covered with Indians. When Gallup attempted to board
5220-410: The neighboring New Haven and Saybrook colonies. The colony was part of the briefly-lived Dominion of New England . The colony's founding document, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut has been called the first written constitution of a democratic government, earning Connecticut the nickname "The Constitution State." Prior to European settlement, the land that would become Connecticut was home to
5310-437: The news. Word did get out, and the colonists overthrew the dominion casting its government as crypto-Catholic supports of James II and themselves as loyal to the new Protestant monarchs of William III and Mary II . The dominion's short-lived experiment in centralized government ended and Connecticut, along with all the other colonies, had its charter restored. In 1701 New Haven was designated co-capital with Hartford. At
5400-423: The night of August 25. A hundred colonists pursued them, catching up to them at the foot of Sugarloaf Hill, which was a sacred space for the Nonotucks called the Great Beaver. The colonists attacked, but the Nonotucks forced them to withdraw and were able to keep moving. The shedding of Native blood on sacred land was an attack on their entire kinship network, and caused Native peoples in western Massachusetts to join
5490-630: The northern end of the graben near Greenfield and extending south across Massachusetts and Connecticut to Long Island Sound . Fossil dinosaur footprints in Holyoke attest to the life present in this region during the Mesozoic. As continental glaciers receded near the end of the last glacial period , a moraine at Rocky Hill, Connecticut , dammed the river to create Lake Hitchcock , extending northward some 200 miles (320 km) inundating places such as Springfield, Agawam, and West Springfield, while certain highlands remained above water, (i.e. sections of Holyoke). Accumulation of fine sediments during
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#17327918819235580-430: The office of governor with Edward Hopkins every year until 1655. Shortly after the Fundamental Orders were established, the nearby New Haven colony organized its own government. When Fort Good Hope was constructed, the Dutch specified in their treaty with the Pequot that the trading post was to be open to all tribes. Ignoring this, the Pequot attacked a rival tribe attempting to trade. The Dutch retaliated by kidnapping
5670-466: The ongoing conflict. Following the war, the greater part of the Native American population left western Massachusetts behind. Many refugees of the war joined the Wabanaki in the north, where their descendants remain today. Native American influence remains evident in the land and culture of western Massachusetts, from the practice of tobacco farming to the names of cities and rivers In 1777, George Washington and Henry Knox selected Springfield for
5760-426: The only trained lawyer in the colonies. The document was adopted in January 1639 and formally united the settlements of Hartford, Windsor, and Wetherfield together and has been called the first written democratic constitution. Under the new constitution, John Haynes was elected governor with Ludlow as deputy governor. Owing to a restriction against governors seeking office in consecutive years, Haynes would alternate
5850-446: The other tribes. With the outbreak of the English Civil War , English support for the Saybrook Colony dried up. The colony's governor, George Fenwick negotiated a deal to sell the colony to Connecticut in 1644. Fenwick would return to England and serve with distinction under Oliver Cromwell . Inspired by the successes of colonial cooperation during the Pequot War, Connecticut, along with Massachusetts, Plymouth, and New Haven formed
5940-436: The population of western Massachusetts, includes the City of Springfield ; to the north, Hampshire County contains the college towns of Northampton , Amherst and South Hadley ; further north, rural Franklin County borders Vermont and New Hampshire; to the west is Berkshire County, bordering New York, Vermont and Connecticut and the other three counties. After a number of county governments were eliminated in Massachusetts in
6030-403: The refusal of Thomas Hooker's request for removal, settlers continued to pour into the valley. In May 1635 the Saybrook Colony was established at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Considerable amounts of emigrants from Massachusetts also settled in the recently established town of Wethersfield. Plymouth's settlement of Windsor also found itself swamped by settlers from Dorchester who took over
6120-403: The region includes the Connecticut River Valley , which has a number of university towns , the major city Springfield , and numerous agricultural hamlets. In the eastern part of the area, the Quabbin region is a place of outdoor recreation. Archeological efforts in the Connecticut River Valley have revealed traces of human life dating back at least 9,000 years. Pocumtuck tradition describes
6210-446: The region's highly regarded liberal arts colleges , including Williams founded 1793, Amherst founded 1821, Mount Holyoke founded 1837, Smith founded 1871, and American International founded 1885. Despite the gains in higher ed, the region has sought to obtain equitable share of the state's education budget to place into local primary education as well. Several communities in western Massachusetts have fought to have changes made
6300-520: The removal of references to royalty being the only change required in the aftermath of the American Revolution . The charter also granted Connecticut extensive land claims, defining its borders as the Narragansett Bay , the Pacific Ocean , the southern border of Massachusetts and the 40th parallel north . When representatives of Connecticut traveled to New Haven to show them that they were to be annexed into Connecticut, they initially met strong opposition. This opposition faded in 1664 when New Netherland
6390-410: The request of William Pynchon, settled the land that they considered most advantageous for both agriculture and trading in modern-day Agawam , adjacent to modern Metro Center , Springfield . In 1636, a group of English colonists—lured by the promise of a "great river" and the northeast's most fertile farmland—ventured to Springfield, where they established a permanent colony. Originally, this settlement
6480-400: The sachem of the Pequot, Tatobem and holding him for ransom. After the Pequot paid the ransom, the Dutch gave them Tatobem's corpse. The Pequot retaliated for this by attacking an English ship, believing it to be Dutch. The ship's captain, John Stone, and his crew were killed by the Pequot. A Pequot envoy was sent to Massachusetts to explain the misunderstanding. The envoy told the English about
6570-577: The settlement. The issue was resolved when the Dorchester settlers agreed to pay the Plymouth settlers for the land appropriated. Finally in 1636 the arrival of a new group of settlers allowed Hooker's congregation to sell their homes and set off on the journey to Connecticut on the May 31. Hooker's group of around a hundred settlers and as many cattle soon arrived at the Connecticut River and established
6660-442: The ship to investigate, a fight ensued with Gallup victorious. The colonists blamed the Narragansett for the killing, warning Roger Williams to be careful. The Narragansett leaders Canonicus and Miantonomoh were able to reassure the colonist, claiming that the culprits not killed by Gallup were hiding among the Pequot. After this a group of ninety men led by John Endecott and his captains John Underhill and Nathaniel Turner
6750-443: The shortage of good farmland, periodic money problems, and downward price pressures in the export market. In agriculture, there was a shift from grain to animal products. The colonial government attempted to promote various commodities as export items from time to time, such as hemp , potash , and lumber, in order to bolster its economy and improve its balance of trade with Great Britain. Connecticut's domestic architecture included
6840-484: The site of the fledgling United States' National Armory . Built atop a high bluff overlooking the Connecticut River, Washington and Knox agreed that Springfield provided an ideal location—beside a great river and at the confluence of major rivers and highways. For the following 200 years, the Springfield Armory would bring concentrated prosperity and innovation to Springfield and its surrounding towns. After
6930-647: The six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States . Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and universities including UMass in Amherst, MA , with approximately 100,000 students; and such institutions as Tanglewood , the Springfield Armory , and Jacob's Pillow . The western part of western Massachusetts includes the Berkshire Mountains , where there are several vacation resorts. The eastern part of
7020-666: The so-called Second Industrial Revolution when railroads were built along the rivers to take advantage of relatively gentle grades over the Appalachians. And so as hilltop farming towns declined in importance, industrial towns in the river valleys rose to local prominence. In northern Massachusetts, the higher altitude area to the east of the Connecticut River Valley is known as the North Quabbin region. These northern municipalities include Warwick , Orange , Petersham , Phillipston , Wendell , New Salem , and Athol near
7110-468: The state as a whole. Western Massachusetts' population is concentrated in the cities and suburbs along the Connecticut River in an urban axis surrounding Springfield that is contiguous with greater Hartford, Connecticut (i.e. the Knowledge Corridor .) A secondary population concentration exists in the Housatonic-Hoosic valley due to the industrial heritage of Pittsfield and North Adams, and
7200-530: The town of Stockbridge ). Cultural institutions include Lenox's Tanglewood , Becket's Jacob's Pillow , and Stockbridge's Norman Rockwell Museum , as well the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown . The city of Pittsfield is the largest community located in the Berkshires. New England's largest river, the Connecticut , flows through the center of its agricultural valley. Nearly bisected by
7290-493: The town of Newtown near the Dutch fort. This name would not last however, as it was soon renamed Hartford after Hertford , the hometown of settler Samuel Stone . In May 1638 Thomas Hooker delivered a sermon on civil government. Inspired by this sermon the settlers sought to create a constitution for the colony. The resulting document, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, was likely mostly drafted by Roger Ludlow ,
7380-499: The valley's so-called "Knowledge Corridor" include Northampton , Amherst , Easthampton , Holyoke , Chicopee , West Springfield , East Longmeadow , Longmeadow , Ludlow , Agawam , and Westfield . The Hilltowns include the areas of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties west of and above the escarpment bordering the ancient rift valley through which the Connecticut River flows. Elevations increase from about 200 feet (60 m) to at least 1,000 feet (300 m) in
7470-445: The year 2020 collectively had 828,188 residents, a population greater than that of any one of the six smallest U.S. states. The population amounted to approximately 12.84% of the 2000 population of the entire state of Massachusetts, which was 6,349,097. Its average population density is 293.07 inhabitants per square mile (113.16/km ), compared to 422.34/km (1,093.87/sq mi) for the rest of Massachusetts, and 312.68/km (809.83/sq mi) for
7560-492: Was Dutch explorer Adriaen Block , who sailed up the Connecticut River with his yacht Onrust . Accordingly, as the first Europeans to explore Connecticut, the Dutch claimed the land as part of New Netherland and negotiated a land purchase of 20 acres along the river from Wopigwooit, the Grand Sachem of the Pequot in 1633. The Dutch would establish a trading post named Kivett's Point and a redoubt named Fort Good Hope ,
7650-568: Was called Agawam Plantation , and administered by the Connecticut Colony . (Springfield lies only 4 miles north of Connecticut; however, Agawam included lands as far south as Windsor Locks , as far north as Holyoke , and as far west as Westfield . ) In 1640, Springfield voted to separate from the Connecticut Colony following a series of contentious incidents and, after a brief period of independence, decided to align with
7740-463: Was clear there was not enough land for the settlers. Particularly eager to leave the crowded Bay colony were the residents of Netwown . The founder of Newtown, Thomas Dudley was frequently at odds with Winthrop, including anger at the choice of Boston as the colony's capital and refusal to support the construction of a fort in Boston. Dudley sent one Thomas Hooker, Newtown's pastor to Boston to resolve
7830-761: Was completed in early 2014, connecting public institutions throughout central and western Massachusetts, but also providing a fiber-optic backbone to allow for further expansion in these regions. Building off of that project, the Commonwealth launched a 'Last Mile' initiative targeting 54 communities that were unserved or under-served by broadband. That program has invested in municipal fiber-to-the-home networks, which are also supported by municipal bonds; private provider projects; and advanced wireless projects to connect homes and businesses in these communities. Small, rural towns such as Mount Washington, Mass., now have access to internet speeds that reach 500 megabit per second (Mbps) symmetrical service. In recent years there has been
7920-409: Was no longer a separate colony. Governor Robert Treat attempted to delay handing over the charter for several months, but on October 31, 1687, Andros came to Hartford to retrieve the charter in person. Treat proceeded to give a speech well into the evening on the importance of the charter. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came through the door, blowing out the candles. By the time the candles were relit,
8010-588: Was seized and renamed New York after its proprietor, the Roman Catholic Duke of York . New York's eastern boundary was defined as the Connecticut River, making New Haven within the claims of both New York and Connecticut. Unwilling to be ruled by a Catholic royalist, New Haven relented and agreed to join Connecticut. The aforementioned seizure of New Netherland would also end Connecticut's claims on Long Island , as when Captain John Scott took
8100-448: Was sent from Massachusetts to the Pequot's territory to demand the return of the murderers of both Stone and Oldham. The force first sailed to Block Island, but the Indians evaded them there and the force left with the only casualty inflicted on the villagers being the burning of the island's empty villages. When the forced arrived in Pequot territory, they were told that the murder was committed by none other than Sassacus , grand sachem of
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