Springfield, Massachusetts, USA (Indian Orchard)
1845 - SPRINGFIELD. [Pop. 10,985. Inc. 1636.]

Springfield was called Agawam by the Indians.

The township was originally very extensive, including Longmeadow, Wilbraham, and Ludlow, on the eastern side of Connecticut River; West Springfield, Westfield, and Southwick, on the western side; with Suflield, Enfield, and Somers, which fell into the State of Connecticut, when the new boundary line was run.

Besides the old village, Chickopee and Cabotville are large manufacturing settlements.

William Pynchon, who came over with Gov. Winthrop, was the principal founder of the town, and the few who first accompanied him came from Roxbury, in Norfolk county.

The greater part of what is now Springfield, was burnt in Philip's War.

The United States have had an arsenal and manufactory of firearms in Springfield ever since the Revolution.

The chief stand made by the insurgents in Shays' Rebellion, in 1787, was made at Springfield, where they stopped the Courts, and provoked the government troops to fire upon them. The first shot killed three and scattered the rest. The main army, under General Lincoln, arrived the next day, and put an end to the insurrection.

Springfield and Northampton were half shire towns till 1793, when the Courts and records were all transferred to Northampton. When Hampshire was divided, Springfield became the county town of Hampden county.

The manufactures are very numerous and extensive. Fire-arms, cotton goods, paper, and iron utensils, are the most valuable.

The water-power is furnished by Chicopee River, which divides the town as it enters the Connecticut, and by Mill Eiver, a small stream south of the Chicopee.

Distance from Boston, 87 miles.

An Elementary Geography for Massachusetts Children by William Bentley Fowle and Asa Fitz, 1845
Get it HERE!

Visit Springfield, Massachusetts, USA (Indian Orchard)
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.