66-621: Caprimulgus vociferus Wilson, 1812 The eastern whip-poor-will ( Antrostomus vociferus ; also called "whip-o-will", "whip o' will", etc.) is a medium-sized (22–27 cm or 8.7–10.6 in) bird within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, from North America . The whip-poor-will is commonly heard within its range, but less often seen because of its camouflage . It is named onomatopoeically after its song. This medium-sized nightjar measures 22–27 cm ( 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 10 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) in length, spans 45–50 cm ( 17 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 19 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) across
132-503: A list of nightjars , sortable by common and binomial names. Nightjars inhabit all continents other than Antarctica, as well as some island groups such as Madagascar, the Seychelles, New Caledonia and the islands of Caribbean. They are not known to live in extremely arid desert regions. Nightjars can occupy all elevations from sea level to 4,200 m (13,800 ft), and a number of species are montane specialists. Nightjars occupy
198-471: A female householder with no husband present, and 20.8% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.09. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 24.4%from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
264-570: A house on the north side of the Scantic River in 1741. After many years of submitting petitions to the Massachusetts General Court the town was officially incorporated as the independent "Wilbraham" in 1763, when its population was about 400. Wilbraham was made a separate town because of the walking distance to Springfield, along with differing interests made the people of the fourth precinct petition several times for
330-614: A log hut along what is now Main Sreet. Hunting and logging took place in the late 17th century. The Native Americans did not maintain any villages prior to the colonials' arrival in the Outward Commons; however, they did hunt and fish along the Chicopee River as it was considered good fishing grounds. A soap stone quarry existed on Glendale Road and arrowheads can be found throughout Wilbraham. The poplar trees located along
396-454: A new town to be incorporated. On August 7, 1761, on Wilbraham Mountain, a young man named Timothy Merrick was bitten by a rattlesnake and died soon afterward. Folklore and legend have made its way over the years about this incident including a song titled " On Springfield Mountain ". The incident probably took place within what is now the adjoining town of Hampden , but at the time was still part of South Wilbraham—though some have claimed it
462-506: A particular challenge in that scientists do not have enough data to determine whether or not a species is endangered due to the difficulty in locating, identifying, and/or categorizing their limited number (e.g. 10,000) known to exist, a good example being the Vaurie's nightjar in China 's south-western Xinjiang Province (as seen only once in-hand). Surveys in the 1970s and 1990s failed to find
528-521: A prisoner caught in an "existential trap". The whip-poor-will is also featured in the last line of the chorus of the song " Deeper Than the Holler ", a song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz , and recorded by American country music singer Randy Travis , where the singer's love is stated to be "longer than the song of a whippoorwill". The second verse of the song, "My Home Among the Hills", about
594-452: A whip-poor-will and identifies the bird with the lonely and poor but vibrant life of the mountain people . American poet Robert Frost described the sound of a whip-poor-will in the fourth stanza of his 1915 poem "Ghost House". This is notable in Frost's use of assonance in "The whippoorwill is coming to shout / And hush and cluck and flutter about". Emily Dickinson wrote "Many a phrase has
660-485: A whip-poor-will, which the narrator referred to as a child as " The Nocturnal Goatsucker ". In the fifth episode of the Netflix animated series The Midnight Gospel , titled " Annihilation of Joy ", the protagonist encounters a talking bird attached to a prisoner. The bird, voiced by Jason Louv , introduces itself as a " psychopomp or a whippoorwill" and explains the cycle of death and rebirth experienced by its charge,
726-469: A wide range of habitats, from deserts to rainforests but are most common in open country with some vegetation. The nighthawks are confined to the New World, and the eared nightjars to Asia and Australia. A number of species undertake migrations , although the secretive nature of the family may account for the incomplete understanding of their migratory habits. Species that live in the far north, such as
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#1732801108569792-565: A wigwam for many years, "after the white man came" ( History of Wilbraham , 1863). Many town residents took part in both the French and Indian War and Revolutionary War , and at one time Wilbraham even had its own militia unit, which at one point was a field artillery battery and often supported the Hampshire Regiment. Wilbraham residents have also served in numerous wars since the French and Indian War . Wilbraham's first church
858-779: A young man named William Pynchon (founder of Springfield) purchased the area from the Nipmuc starting at the Connecticut River in Springfield and extending to the foot of the Wilbraham Mountain Range by 1674. Wilbraham was first settled in 1730 by Nathaniel Hitchcock along with what is now Hampden , Massachusetts , as the Fourth District of Springfield . It was also known as the Outward Commons, Mountains or Springfield Mountain. Hitchcock built
924-425: Is Mt. Chapin at 937 feet above sea level. Other high peaks are Mount Vision (formerly Rattlesnake Peak) and Wigwam Hill. As of the census of 2000, there were 13,473 people, 4,891 households, and 3,873 families residing in the town. The population density was 606.3 inhabitants per square mile (234.1/km ). There were 5,048 housing units at an average density of 227.2 per square mile (87.7/km ). The racial makeup of
990-471: Is a historic New England family run farm stand serving Breakfast, Coffee, Pies, Apples and Ice Cream. Flo Design Sonics , a technology company, located at 380 Main St. was acquired by Millipore Sigma in 2019. Flo Design Wind Turbines is co-located here. Wilbraham has a Selectboard in which there are three members, each serving a three-year term. The town has an open town meeting rule and an annual town meeting
1056-617: Is currently in decline, though they remain fairly common. In 2017, the eastern whip-poor-will was uplisted from least concern to near threatened on the IUCN Red List on the basis of citizen science observations demonstrating a decline in populations of the eastern whip-poor-will by over 60% between 1970 and 2014. Several reasons for the decline are proposed, such as loss of early successional forest habitat related to fire suppression and habitat destruction , predation by feral cats and dogs , and poisoning by insecticides , but
1122-666: Is held every spring. Wilbraham has a regional School District, called the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District which is centered around Minnechaug Regional High School . Wilbraham & Monson Academy , a private middle and high school with an international student population, is located in the downtown. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 22.4 square miles (58.1 km ), of which 22.2 square miles (57.5 km )
1188-436: Is land and 0.2 square mile (0.5 km ) (0.89%) is water. Wilbraham is bordered by Springfield on the west, Ludlow on the north, Palmer on the northeast, Monson on the east, Hampden on the south, and East Longmeadow on the southwest. Wilbraham is situated in such a way that its area lies within two broad physiographic provinces that cross Massachusetts from north to south. The Wilbraham Mountains which dominate
1254-623: Is nigh". In the 1934 Frank Capra film It Happened One Night , before Clark Gable 's character Peter Warne reveals his name to Ellie Andrews ( Claudette Colbert ), he famously says to her, "I am the whip-poor-will that cries in the night". Hank Williams 's 1949 song I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry refers to the whip-poor-will's sound in its opening line: "Hear that lonesome whippoorwill, he sounds too blue to fly". The chorus of Alan Jackson 's 1992 single Midnight in Montgomery makes reference to this lyric: "Just hear that whippoorwill". In
1320-547: Is still standing and is a house. Their regional headquarters was Denny Abbey in nearby Peterborough . One statement within the Wilbraham Town History Book of 1963 states that a trustee of the Wilbraham & Monson Academy was attending Oxford University and found the following in a history book: That the two villages of Little Wilbraham and Great Wilbraham came into existence because Alfred
1386-429: Is unique as a bird that undergoes a form of hibernation, becoming torpid and with a much reduced body temperature for weeks or months, although other nightjars can enter a state of torpor for shorter periods. In their pioneering DNA–DNA hybridisation work, Charles Sibley and Jon E. Ahlquist found that the genetic difference between the eared nightjars and the typical nightjars was, in fact, greater than that between
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#17328011085691452-682: The European nightjar . Nightjars are found all around the world, with the exception of Antarctica, and certain island groups such as the Seychelles. They can be found in a variety of habitats, most commonly the open country with some vegetation. They usually nest on the ground, with a habit of resting and roosting on roads. The subfamilies of nightjars have similar characteristics, including small feet, of little use for walking, and long, pointed wings. Typical nightjars have rictal bristles , longer bills, and softer plumage. The colour of their plumage and their unusual perching habits help conceal them during
1518-492: The Massachusetts Turnpike , hedges along the side of the highway have a sign and have been trimmed to read "Welcome to Wilbraham, Home of Friendly Ice Cream". Friendly's Ice Cream was acquired in 2016 by Dean Foods. The Dean Foods bankruptcy settlement sold Friendly's Ice Cream to Amici Partners Group. Bennett Turkey Farms was acquired by Rice's Fruit Farm in 2007. Rice's Fruit Farm which first opened in 1894
1584-651: The Mercians who gave her the land. In the 10th century (975 CE ), it was still known as Wilburgeham; however, in the Domesday Book it is known as Wiborgham. By the 1260s, it was known as Great Wilbraham and just before that, King's Wilbraham. During the Middle Ages , the Knights Templar established a preceptory in 1226 in the villages. The manor house of Great Wilbraham was their temple and today it
1650-500: The 1958 movie Thunder Road , Keely Smith sings "The Whippoorwill," a song written by Robert Mitchum and Don Raye . Elton John and Bernie Taupin 's 1975 song " Philadelphia Freedom " features a flute mimicking the call of the eastern whip-poor-will and includes the lyrics "I like living easy without family ties, till the whippoorwill of freedom zapped me right between the eyes." The Pennsylvania-based Indie rock band Dr Dog released their song "Lonesome" on their 2012 album Be
1716-547: The Chicopee River made excellent canoes, and two have been found carved out along the Chicopee River over the years. The Nipmuc referred to this area as "Minnechaug" which means Berryland. The major poem "Minneola" (1904) by Chauncey E. Peck tells, over several hundred pages, the stories of the Indians around Wilbraham. The last of which appears to have been an Indian woman named We-sha-u-gan who lived on Wigwam Hill in
1782-743: The English language -/ I have heard but one -/ [...]/ Saying itself in new inflection -/ Like a Whippowil -" (in: J276, 1861 = F333, 1862). Many a phrase has the English language - I have heard but one - Low as the laughter of the Cricket, Loud, as the Thunder's Tongue - Murmuring, like old Caspian Choirs, When the Tide's a'lull - Saying itself in new inflection - Like a Whippowil - The chorus of George A. Whiting and Walter Donaldson 's song " My Blue Heaven " (1927) begins, "When Whip-poor-wills call and ev'ning
1848-554: The English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning , in which the outcast speaker asks: "Could the whip-poor-will or the cat of the glen/Look into my eyes and be bold?" It is also frequently used as an auditory symbol of rural America, as in Washington Irving 's story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ", or as a plot device. For example, William Faulkner 's short story, "Barn Burning", makes several mentions of whip-poor-wills: "and then he found that he had been asleep because he knew it
1914-606: The European nightjar or the common nighthawk, migrate southward with the onset of winter. Geolocators placed on European nightjars in southern England found they wintered in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Other species make shorter migrations. Some species of nightjars are threatened with extinction. Road-kills of this species by cars are thought to be a major cause of mortality for many members of
1980-494: The Great , an English King who upon hunting wild boar in a very good spot about 60 miles northeast of London , designated that spot as Wild Boar Haven. However, Haven was later changed to Ham and over the years the three separate words became combined and distorted until you had Wilbraham. Another statement within the "Wilbraham Town History Book" of 1963 states that the name may have come from Sir Thomas Wilbraham, 3rd Baronet who
2046-513: The Pines Section. In 1878, the south end of Wilbraham officially broke away from Wilbraham and formed the Town of Hampden . The name of Wilbraham comes from the villages of Little Wilbraham and Great Wilbraham , located near Cambridge, England . The name originates from Wilburgham, a name indicating "Wilburga's homestead," Wilburga being the daughter of the seventh century King Penda of
Eastern whip-poor-will - Misplaced Pages Continue
2112-466: The USPS in 1963, the zip code of North Wilbraham was 01067, though this is no longer used. North Wilbraham was considered the industrialized area of town, while Wilbraham was considered the agricultural area of town. The term North Wilbraham is now rarely used by town residents and has since been replaced simply by Wilbraham. The area today known as the Town of Wilbraham first became of interest in 1636 when
2178-570: The Void , featuring the passage "I had my fill of the Whippoorwill / When he broke into song I shot him". The song, "Cockeyed Optimist", sung by Nellie Forbush in Rodger's and Hammerstein's South Pacific , mentions such bird, singing, "But every whip-poor-will / Is selling me a bill/ And telling me it just ain't so!" In the novel Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut , the narrator hears the call of
2244-525: The actual causes remain elusive. Pesticides and intensified agriculture have led to declines in the flying insect populations that the eastern whip-poor-will depends on. BirdLife International has stated that initiatives like the Conservation Reserve Program will be crucial in conserving the species and reversing its decline. Due to its song, the eastern whip-poor-will is the topic of numerous legends. A New England legend says
2310-534: The artillery train through the town. The first President of the United States, General George Washington , traveled through the town twice and on one occasion slept at a home along the Bay Path in 1790 while on his way to and from Boston . On April 29, 1799, a tragedy on Nine Mile Pond took the lives of six people, including three 16-year-old girls. The boat that they were traveling in overturned. One of
2376-649: The country, with fine examples of colonial and Victorian homes from as early as the 1730s along the historical areas of Main Street. The oldest Methodist meeting house in New England is located in the town's center, as is the campus of Wilbraham & Monson Academy , founded in 1804. North Wilbraham was the industrialized area of the town and was home to the Collins Manufacturing Company and other businesses. The Collins Manufacturing Company
2442-613: The day. Previously, all members of the orders Apodiformes , Aegotheliformes , Nyctibiiformes , Podargiformes , and Steatornithiformes were lumped alongside nightjars in the Caprimulgiformes. In 2021, the International Ornithological Congress redefined the Caprimulgiformes as only applying to nightjars, with potoos, frogmouths, oilbirds, and owlet-nightjars all being reclassified into their own orders. See Strisores for more info about
2508-655: The disputes over the taxonomy of Caprimulgiformes. A phylogenetic analysis found that the extinct family Archaeotrogonidae , known from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe, are the closest known relatives of nightjars. Traditionally, nightjars have been divided into two subfamilies—the Caprimulginae , or typical nightjars with 79 known species, and the Chordeilinae , or nighthawks of the New World, with 10 known species. The groups are similar in most respects, but
2574-512: The eastern United States , and migrate to the southeastern United States and to eastern Mexico and Central America for the winter. These birds forage at night, catching insects in flight, and normally sleep during the day. Eastern whip-poor-wills nest on the ground, in shaded locations among dead leaves, and usually lay two eggs at a time. The bird will commonly remain on the nest unless almost stepped upon. The whip-poor-will has been split into two species. Eastern populations are now referred to as
2640-530: The eastern whip-poor-will. The disjunct population in southwestern United States and Mexico is now referred to as the Mexican whip-poor-will , Antrostomus arizonae . The two populations were split based on range, different vocalizations, different egg coloration, and DNA sequencing showing differentiation. The diet of an Eastern whip-poor-will mostly consists of insects , especially moths , also beetles , mosquitoes , and many others. The eastern whip-poor-will
2706-512: The family because of their habit of resting and roosting on roads. They also usually nest on the ground, laying one or two patterned eggs directly onto bare ground. Nightjars possibly move their eggs and chicks from the nesting site in the event of danger by carrying them in their mouths. This suggestion has been repeated many times in ornithology books, but surveys of nightjar research have found very little evidence to support this idea. Developing conservation strategies for some species presents
Eastern whip-poor-will - Misplaced Pages Continue
2772-636: The geography of the town are part of the Central Upland of Massachusetts, while the portion of town west of the mountains lies within the Connecticut Valley Lowland. Millions of years ago, the flat area of Wilbraham west of the mountains were once part of a shallow inland sea. Wilbraham also has the Wilbraham Mountains range, which starts at the north end of town and extends into Hampden. The highest point in town
2838-495: The locality with his friend and author Mrs Miniter who was a local. He later modeled the fictional town of Dunwich on the combination of towns in the area, in his story " The Dunwich Horror ". He also used the area's folklore in the story. After his death Lovecraft's executor August Derleth later wrote the story "The Peabody Heritage", set in Wilbraham. Evanore Beebe died in 1935. The hurricane of 1938 did considerable damage to
2904-628: The more far-reaching one to group all the owls (traditionally Strigiformes) together in the Caprimulgiformes. The listing below retains a more orthodox arrangement, but recognises the eared nightjars as a separate group. For more detail and an alternative classification scheme, see Caprimulgiformes and Sibley–Ahlquist taxonomy . Eurostopodus Lyncornis Gactornis Nyctiprogne Lurocalis Hydropsalis Nyctidromus Nyctipolus Siphonorhis Nyctiphrynus Phalaenoptilus Antrostomus Veles Caprimulgus Podager Chordeiles Also see
2970-625: The roads in the town. The dam near the Chicopee River gave way washing out the railroad tracks as well as parts of Mountain Road and Boston Road. On the afternoon of June 1, 2011 , two tornadoes struck Wilbraham: an EF-1 and an EF-3. The EF-3, which originated in Westfield and traveled through West Springfield and Springfield, caused extensive damage to the Tinkham Road corridor of the town. Heavy structural damage to homes, power poles, and trees
3036-400: The singing of the birds is a death omen. This is also referred by "Whip-poor-will", a short story by James Thurber , in which the constant nighttime singing of a whip-poor-will results in maddening insomnia of the protagonist, Mr. Kinstrey, who eventually loses his mind and kills everyone in his house, including himself. The bird also features in "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point", a poem by
3102-617: The species., implying that the species has become extinct, endangered, or found only in a few small areas. [REDACTED] Wilbraham, Massachusetts Wilbraham is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts , United States. It is a suburb of the City of Springfield , and part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area . The population was 14,613 at the 2020 census . Part of
3168-567: The state of West Virginia contains the lyrics "Where the moonlit meadows ring with the call of whippoorwills". Nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae / ˌ k æ p r ɪ ˈ m ʌ l dʒ ɪ d iː / and order Caprimulgiformes , characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called bugeaters , their primary source of food being insects. Some New World species are called nighthawks . The English word nightjar originally referred to
3234-416: The time of World War II. None of those farms remain in operation today. Wilbraham was once the home of a speakeasy called "Worlds End" on Burleigh Road. It was destroyed by a fire in the mid-1930s. In the summer of 1928, author H. P. Lovecraft stayed with the teacher and antiquarian Miss Evanore O. Beebe (co-author of the 1913 Wilbraham History Book) at her farmhouse on Monson Road in west Wilbraham, touring
3300-604: The town and destroyed the old covered bridge over the Chicopee River on Cottage Ave. A steel bridge rests there today. During World War I , the town suffered the loss of George M. Kingdon who died fighting in France . He was Wilbraham's only casualty. When the Wilbraham Fire Department was incorporated in 1919 it was named the George M. Kingdon Fire Company in his honor. The flood of 1955 washed out many of
3366-562: The town comprises the census-designated place of Wilbraham . Wilbraham was originally divided between North Wilbraham and Wilbraham. North Wilbraham was home to the industrial side of the town, along with the Boston & Albany Railroad Line, which is still in use today. Wilbraham is home to the Wilbraham & Monson Academy . Wilbraham is made up of several neighborhoods, known as Wilbraham Center, North Wilbraham, East Wilbraham, Wilbraham Mountain, South Wilbraham, Boston Road Corridor and
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#17328011085693432-412: The town was 96.40% White , 1.19% Black or African American , 0.06% Native American , 1.26% Asian , 0.06% Pacific Islander , 0.25% from other races , and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.40% of the population. There were 4,891 households, out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.7% were married couples living together, 8.0% had
3498-489: The typical nightjars and the nighthawks of the New World. Accordingly, they placed the eared nightjars in a separate family , the Eurostopodidae (9 known species), but the family has not yet been widely adopted. Subsequent work, both morphological and genetic, has provided support for the separation of the typical and the eared nightjars, and some authorities have adopted this Sibley–Ahlquist recommendation, and also
3564-533: The typical nightjars have rictal bristles, longer bills, and softer plumage. The underside of the claw of the middle toe is comb-like with serrations. Their soft plumage is cryptically coloured to resemble bark or leaves, and some species, unusual for birds, perch along a branch rather than across it, helping to conceal them during the day. The subfamilies of nightjars have similar characteristics, including small feet, of little use for walking, and long, pointed wings. The common poorwill , Phalaenoptilus nuttallii ,
3630-515: The upperparts are grey, black and brown; the lower parts are grey and black. They have a very short bill and a black throat. Males have a white patch below the throat and white tips on the outer tail feathers; in the female, these parts are light brown. This bird is sometimes confused with the related chuck-will's-widow ( Antrostomus carolinensis ) which has a similar but lower-pitched and slower call. Eastern whip-poor-wills breed in deciduous or mixed woods across central and southeastern Canada and
3696-399: The victims was not found for sixteen days and a ditch had to be dug in order to drain the pond to find her. This ditch located across the street on Boston Rd became the first town dump. The Underground Railroad ran through the town and several houses along Main Street and on Wilbraham Mountain served as stations. The Wilbraham town center is among the largest designated historical areas in
3762-406: The whip-poor-will can sense a soul departing, and can capture it as it flees. This is used as a plot device in H. P. Lovecraft 's story The Dunwich Horror . Lovecraft based this idea on information of local legends given to him by Edith Miniter of North Wilbraham, Massachusetts , when he visited her in 1928. This is likely related to an earlier Native American and general American folk belief that
3828-501: The wings and weighs 42–69 g ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 – 2 + 7 ⁄ 16 oz). Further standard measurements are a wing chord of 14.7 to 16.9 cm ( 5 + 13 ⁄ 16 to 6 + 5 ⁄ 8 in), a tail of 10.5 to 12.8 cm ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 8 to 5 + 1 ⁄ 16 in), a bill of 1 to 1.4 cm ( 3 ⁄ 8 to 9 ⁄ 16 in) and a tarsus of 1.5 to 1.8 cm ( 9 ⁄ 16 to 11 ⁄ 16 in). Adults have mottled plumage:
3894-408: Was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $ 65,014, and the median income for a family was $ 73,825. Males had a median income of $ 55,600 versus $ 36,922 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 29,854. About 3.2% of families and 5.1% of the population were below
3960-488: Was a bitter royalist and anti-Puritan however this has since been in doubt and the most likely explanation is that the name came from the villages in Cambridgeshire . Some of Wilbraham earliest settlers hailed from the Cambridgeshire region of England . From its beginning, the Town of Wilbraham was divided between North Wilbraham and Wilbraham, which each had their own post office. After the launch of Zip codes by
4026-458: Was almost dawn, the night almost over. He could tell that from the whip-poor-wills. They were everywhere now among the dark trees below him, constant and inflectioned and ceaseless, so that, as the instant for giving over to the day birds drew nearer and nearer, there was no interval at all between them." "The Mountain Whippoorwill" is a poem written by Stephen Vincent Benét about a fiddling contest, won by Hillbilly Jim, who refers to his fiddle as
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#17328011085694092-519: Was as far south as Connecticut. This song was one of the earliest of the American ballads. The Bay Path trail once ran through the north end of the town. It was this trail that Henry Knox used when he moved the cannons that he captured at Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. These cannons were brought to Boston (being pulled by oxen) and placed on Dorchester Heights and used against the British. Knox led
4158-472: Was experienced. That tornado then moved eastward to cause extensive damage to the towns of Monson, Brimfield and Sturbridge. The EF-1 formed after the EF-3 and primarily caused damage to power poles and trees along a section from Stony Hill Road east crossing Main Street, just south of St. Cecilia's Church to Crane Hill Road. The corporate headquarters of Friendly's Ice Cream was formerly located in Wilbraham. On
4224-517: Was once the main employer of the town. The building, also known as the Collins Paper Mill (which still stands today), was built c. 1872 . It made fine writing paper and, for a short time, made government currency paper. The mill officially closed down in 1940, but some sections continued operating into the 1950s. A fire in 1945 did severe damage to the building, which is now home to several small businesses. Wilbraham at one time
4290-567: Was the First Congregational Church, which was organized on June 24, 1741. This church would later merge into the Wilbraham United Church. The first minister of the town was Mr. Noah Merrick. The first three selectmen were Lieutenant Thomas Mirick, Deacon Nathaniel Warriner and Stephen Stebbins. Stebbins was the first person to settle in the southern part of the precinct in modern-day Hampden when he built
4356-469: Was very famous for its peach orchards and some are still grown on the slope of the Wilbraham Mountain Range. Apples were also grown on the slopes. Wilbraham Center was the farming area of town and was home to Bennett's Turkey Farm, Pheasant Farm and Rice's Fruit Farm which grew the peaches later celebrated during the Peach Festival. Wilbraham had several potato farms in the south end of town around
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