Belchertown History
A summary history of the
Town Of Belchertown originally written in 1960 by Kenneth A. Dorey, and revised
in 2004 by Shirley Bock, Doris Dickinson and Dan Fitzpatrick specifically for
the Town of Belchertown Web page
I. THE BEGINNINGS
II. EARLY SETTLEMENT
III. THE EARLY DAYS
IV. THE TOWN GROWS
V. EARLY INDUSTRY
VI. OUR MILITARY HISTORY
VII. FAMOUS PEOPLE OF
BELCHERTOWN
VIII. NOTABLE HOMES OF
INTEREST
IX. NOTABLE PLACES OF
INTEREST
X.
EDUCATION
THROUGH THE YEARS
XI. BELCHERTOWN STATE SCHOOL
XI.
BELCHERTOWN
WATER DISTRICT
XIII. BELCHERTOWN SEWER DISTRICT
I. THE BEGINNINGS
Today Belchertown perches
atop a hill overlooking the Connecticut Valley to the west and the Quaboag
Valley to the east, its church spires visible for miles in all directions. The
famed Quabbin Reservoir and the
University of Massachusetts draw thousand to and through the community
annually.
It is hard to imagine this land under sea water, but
such was the case millions of years ago. Then volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes pushed New England out of the sea, creating a region of high
mountains resembling the Alps in Europe. Frost and water eventually eroded the
peaks to a level plain. Later a great crack opened in the rock. Waters flowed
into the crack toward the sea, and our Connecticut Valley was born. A series of
volcanic eruptions formed Mt. Holyoke and Mt. Tom, and lava poured over the
Valley. About 200 million years ago, giant dinosaurs and other prehistoric
reptiles roamed freely in the Valley, leaving behind only their footprints,
today turned to stone. In later periods mastodons and queer birds made their
homes here.
Then a glacier covered the
area. As the ice sheet slid southward, and eventually melted, it left behind
rich deposits of soil and an abundance of boulders and rocks. This glacial
period ended only 15,000 years ago.
The first people in the area
were, of course, Indians. They were from the Niprone tribe and the local
Indians were known as Nepetucks or the people in the "middle of the
river." While the Nipomez roamed the Belchertown area freely to hunt and build
temporary camps, their chief settlements were on the Connecticut River at
Northampton and Hadley. They built forts on either side of the river, trapping,
hunting and growing corn and pumpkins. They were generally friendly to the
white settlers and no reason is known why, in 1675, they mysteriously left the
Connecticut Valley. Even today farmers in this area occasionally turn up
arrowheads and other Indian relics while plowing their fields.
The earliest settlers to
this region came from the Massachusetts seacoast towns and most were
descendants of the early Pilgrim and Puritan colonists. They brought with them
plenty of Yankee ingenuity and courage, and all the strict religious and moral
convictions of the older settlements.
Springfield was the first settlement in the
Connecticut Valley, begun in 1636. Colonists migrating from Springfield moved
into the surrounding area gradually. During the French and Indian Wars, lasting
until the mid-1700's, settlers had to remain in the established settlements.
Lone farms in the wilderness invited Indian attacks from over the Canadian
border. Many early settlers were massacred or taken captive back to Canada and
held for ransom. Thus the first settlement in Belchertown was not made until
1731. Prior to this date the area comprising Belchertown, Ware and Pelham
belonged to Connecticut. It had been swapped by the Massachusetts Colony for
land it thought more valuable on the Connecticut border.
II. EARLY SETTLEMENT
In the early days of our
country, boundary disputes between states were common. Both Connecticut and
Massachusetts claimed title to the towns of Enfield, Suffield, Woodstock and
Somers, now in Connecticut. In 1713, these towns were put under Massachusetts
rule to protect them from Indian attack and the land comprising the towns of
Belchertown, Ware and Pelham, which was not settled, was assigned to
Connecticut. This section was known as the "equivalent lands."
In 1727 the "equivalent lands" were sold
by Connecticut to seven persons who resided in Boston. The land was divided
into six equal parts, the 1/7th part being granted to Jonathan Belcher, later
to become governor of Massachusetts, and the town’s namesake. Belchertown
contained an area of 27,190 acres or approximately sixty square miles.
This region was reputed to be the best hunting
ground anywhere, and hunters would set fires to make deer hunting easier, thus
destroying much of the original forest. Wild, thick grass grew in place of the
trees and made excellent pasturage for cattle. Settlers from the surrounding
valleys drove their cows and horses to this hilly pasture land during the
summer and temporary herders’ camps were set up. The region also supplied
candlewood and pine trees for turpentine, an early local industry.
The first trails in the area
were made by deer and other animals. Indians followed those paths, blazing the
trees, and later the white men came on foot and on horseback. It was not until
1673 that a true route was laid out. This was the old Bay Path which followed
an Indian trail from Boston to Albany, New York. Weary travelers would stop at
the lovely spring here (now on Cold Spring Road) to refresh themselves and the
area soon became known as Cold Spring.
In order to step up the
immigration of settlers, the new owners proposed to make land grants to them
under the condition that they move to the territory and set up a permanent
settlement. In response, several families from Hatfield, Northampton and Hadley
moved to Cold Spring in July, 1731. In 1737, a petition went to the General
Court stating that "they had twenty families and more expected soon."
The earliest families to settle here were those of Benjamin Stebbins, Samuel
Bascom, Aaron Lyman and Capt. Nathaniel Dwight. Their homes were established
far apart from one another as they felt the Indian situation here was not a
major threat.
Other problems beset them
however. The chief dangers were wolves, bears, wildcats - and poverty. As late
as 1784 the town offered a bounty of 6 pounds for killing wolves, and the towns
people set up a committee with neighboring towns to combine efforts in wiping
them out. The land was rocky and filled with roots. The settlers were not
accustomed to such hard farming conditions. With only a quarter of the land
settled, they could not raise enough taxes to meet their debts. Turkeys and
other wild game were plentiful, however, and the land, once tilled, was
fertile.
The first minister to come
to Belchertown was Reverend Edward Billings. In 1738 a meeting house was
erected, and was occupied as a place of worship, though the building was not
completed until 1746. Since the early settlers were "greatly embarrassed
by debt" they had to partially pay their minister in firewood. They did not
finish their meeting house for eight years because of the lack of tax money.
When Rev. Billings was dismissed in April, 1752, the population had increased
to 50 families.
The town of Belchertown was
incorporated on the 30th of June, 1761. The name given to the town was in honor
of Jonathan Belcher, formerly a large landowner in the town and governor of
Massachusetts from 1730 to 1740. The first town meeting was held September 30,
1761. It is interesting to note that two of the elected officials were a deer
reeve and a hog reeve, the latter being required to round up stray hogs and
care for them in the town pound. Deer reeves were expected to control the
illegal killing of deer as these animals were then becoming scarce in this
area. Early town meetings were also religious affairs - at least held the town
business to laws on attending and supporting the church and observing the
Sabbath. These Puritans even passed laws making it compulsory to love God!
III. THE
EARLY DAYS
After incorporation, the town grew rapidly, and conditions gradually
improved in the entire western Massachusetts region. The Old Bay Path was
improved and called the Bay Road. Toward the end of the century, great coaches,
drawn by four, or even six horses, passed daily along the road. Taverns sprang up to refresh the weary
travelers and rest their horses. Nearly every house welcomed travelers, and the
extra income they brought. Many farmers along the route kept yokes of oxen
ready to pull the coaches out of the muddy ruts in bad weather. The first
dwelling in the town was a combination home-tavern built by Samuel Bascom in
1733. A stone tablet beside the Lawrence Memorial Hall, another by the Stop and
Shop sign, corner of Route 9 and Geo. Hannum Rd, are relics of this old main
highway and part of its route can be traced today along our old Bay Road in the
northern part of the town. An early toll road was built by Henry Dwight from
Belchertown to Greenwich. The builders of toll roads charged travelers to use
them. As the number of these roads
increased, travel became easier but also very expensive.
Until the town was incorporated there were no
schools - the children being taught reading, writing and figuring by their
parents on long winter evenings by candle and firelight. The Bible was the most
important textbook and some children had read it through twice by the time they
were seven years old. Early farmers had little need to know more than the three
R’s. Parents felt religious and moral education was more important, and all
children were raised with strict discipline. An impolite child was unheard of.
The first graduating class
from any school was in 1816. In all, there were a total of twenty schools in
Belchertown. In 1835 Belchertown Classical School opened it’s doors, and was
located in the center of the town. This was a private school for both young men
and women, and taught Latin, Greek, literature and writing. It’s girls’
teacher, Hannah Lyman, later became president of Vassar College.
The first meeting houses
were crude affairs and no heat was permitted in the building. Townspeople felt
that comfort would distract the worshipers from concentrating on the service,
and some might fall asleep. These services were very long, lasting all morning
and frequently most of the afternoon. A single prayer was often an hour long.
Men banged their feet against the pews to keep warm, but the ladies discreetly
brought little footstools filled with hot coals. Children were supervised by a
tithing man with a long pole who never hesitated to rap a sleepy or restless
boy over the head. Church organs were
not allowed as these were felt to be tools of the Devil. The Sabbath began on
Saturday at sundown, and continued until Sunday at sundown. Only necessary farm
and household chores were permitted and Bible reading was compulsory all
day. Children were allowed to play
games and sing only after sundown on Sunday.
The Common was the geological center of the town.
The land was donated by Colonel Elijah Dwight in 1791 at considerable expense
to himself. The land is oval-shaped
with about five acres, and in earlier times the entire area was chained in.
Cows and hogs, owned by the farmers in the center of town, were grazed here -
the name common meaning land owned “in common” by the townspeople. In 1795 it
was voted that “hogs shall run on the common ringed and yoked.” Today it is an
attractive park with a graceful soldier’s monument in the middle, flanked by a
soldiers’ flagpole. A fine bandstand, built in 1879 at a cost to the residents
of $100, allowed them to enjoy many fine concerts in the early days of this
century. A town pump was located on the
south side and the Congregational, Methodist and Catholic churches now face
upon it.
Since 1856 the common has also served another useful
purpose. The annual Belchertown Fair was an event long awaited by young and
old. Begun by the Agriculture and
Mechanics Club, it was an exhibition of farm animals and produce. Oxen, horses, pigs, cows, etc. and the best
of the year’s farm crop, along with canned goods, quilts, rugs and other fancy
work, were proudly displayed. It gave isolated farm people a chance to meet old
friends and relieve the monotony of their existence. There were no such thing
as a midway with the rides and the games of chance we enjoy today. Most of the tents were food tents and no
gambling was allowed. In fact,
amusements were so frowned upon, even a hundred years after the founding of the
town, that the coming of a circus was made the subject of a church sermon and
the people were warned “the inimy (enemy) is coming, the inimy is upon us. Keep
your children under your own ruff (roof).”
IV. THE TOWN
GROWS
The coming of the first
railroad in the 1860’s brought many changes to the town and gave its citizens
greater contact with the outside world. Hot, dusty trips that took days by
stage coach, could now be accomplished in hours. Local industries benefited by
the greater variety and availability of markets that the railroads made
possible. Begun in 1850, the first railroad built here was called the New
London Northern, and was more recently called the Central Vermont
Railroad. The first tracks were
stretched from Amherst to Belchertown. The Central Mass., ultimately called the
Boston and Maine Railroad started in 1870. James Clapp, a prominent citizen,
also ran a private railroad called “the Gold Coach.” In the 1900's the railroads were busy indeed, with over forty
passenger and freight trains traveling through town daily. Children often
amused themselves by watching the steam giants coming and going.
Early Inns in Belchertown
were more or less for the people who stopped overnight on stage runs. Of course, people could stay as long as they
pleased and later, with good railroad facilities, city people came to spend
holidays and entire summers at the local Inns.
In the center of the town were two Inns. One of these was the Belcher
House, owned by Dwight V. Fuller. This
Inn was a quiet, homelike hotel which had, for that time, modern conveniences
such as gas lighting and steam heat. This building, on the north end of the
common, was originally built for the Classical School in 1835, but eventually
had to close due to the lack of local support. It burned about 1870, but the
right wing was saved and was renamed the Park Lane Inn (McCarthy’s Pub in
2004!). The other Inn was located at the southern end of the common. Named the Highland House, it was operated by
B. Buelter. It, too, was a wooden
structure, three stories in height, with piazzas running its length. It was very luxurious, with gas lighting,
steam heat, electric bells and hot and cold running water. Built in 1874 it burned soon after and was
in replaced in 1922 by Lawrence
Memorial Hall and High School at that spot.
The Old Town Hall on Park
Street was built in 1861 for about $8,735 and was used as the town meeting
place until better facilities were constructed at Lawrence Memorial Hall. In older days such activities as May fairs,
dances and plays were given here. This building collapsed in 1862 when the roof
fell in from the weight of ice and snow.
The rebuilt Old Town Hall, still standing, has been remodeled for a
gym. The big town safe, standing in
the corner, had long been a mystery as no one remembered the combination. The
vault was finally opened by a group of interested citizens, but little of value
was found inside.
The first post office in
Belchertown was established in 1812.
It’s postmaster was Philo Dickinson and was operated as part of his
store. The second postmaster was Myron
Shay. Joshua Langley and Phineas Bridgeman followed, then Miss Mary Hamifan,
who retired her post to Chester Pinkus in the 1960’s. The Post Office was, until 1963, located in the town business
center on the corner of Maple and Main Streets in the Masonic Building, which
later burned to the ground in 1995 and was replaced by the Masons shortly after
with a brick structure. A newer, more
modern brick post office was erected at the North end of the common next to the
former Park Lane Inn, which eventually became the Police Station until 1997,
and now serves as the headquarters for the Town’s Emergency Medical Technicians
(EMT’s)
Early stores were simple trading posts. The first
store to do considerable business is said to have been owned by Caleb Clark.
During the War of 1812 there were five stores in town. Those of Philo Dickinson, Morris and Clark,
Henry Helen and Wright Bridgeman occupied the southwest corner of the center at
Maple and Main Streets Jonas Holland
occupied one on Federal Street near Holland Glenn. These stores sold General Merchandise of every conceivable
description, from silks to horses, and frequently took goods and land in trade
when the farmers were short of cash.
The first store block was erected about 1840 by W. E. Bridgeman. In Pardy’s
block next door there was a harness shop and dental offices. J. R. Gould erected a market grocery on the
other side of the common, and Mr. Shaw conducted a harness shop next to him. Often moral principle conflicted with
business as in the case of D. D. Hazen who purchased Langley’s store in the
mid-1800’s only to find a supply of tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, playing
cards and jewelry left by the previous owner.
Heedless of the financial loss he promptly threw these items of Devil’s
temptation out of the store and burned them.
The Farmer’s and Mechanic’s
Bank was in business for about ten years.
In its short business it occupied a building on Main near Maple
Street. The stair step in front of the store
was a part of the vault of the bank. Its treasurer, Mrs. Lyman, lived in the Stone
House. Pieces of the money once used by the Belchertown Bank are now preserved
in the Stone House and the original double bank vault door is also shown there.
In the year 1826, a
newspaper called the Hampshire Sentinel and Farmer’s and Manufacturers’
Journal, was started in Belchertown by Mr. Shute. The first copy to be printed was in November, 1826, and was
published continuously by several owners until taken over in 1908 by Lewis
Blackmer, editor. The name of the paper was changed to The Belchertown Sentinel
at that time. In 1965, at the fiftieth anniversary of the paper, the office was
turned over to Peter Dearness, who published it for several years before
selling to Turley Publications. Mr.
Blackmer was so highly esteemed by his fellow townsmen they gave him a surprise
testimonial banquet on his retirement and sent him sightseeing in Hawaii for a
well deserved vacation. The old presses used until the 1860’s to publish the
paper can still be seen at the Stone House Museum.
The early Belchertown Fire
Department was and still is a volunteer group with headquarters located near
the corner of North Main and Cottage Street in a building built about
1897. The original building was moved
in 1999 across and further down North Main Street, to make room for the new
Fire Station. The association was organized about 1900 with Frederick Walker as
Chief for the next twenty years. In
the early days the bell of the Congregational Church served as a fire alarm,
and later a very loud siren on top of the firehouse was used. The old hand pumper, Mary Jane, is still
kept in mint condition for parades and demonstrations, but the working force of
the volunteer department now consists of a fleet of modern up-to-date well
equipped fire-fighting trucks.
Belchertown had elected town
constables since her first town meeting. In the 1960’s a force of five
constables, assisted by a police association maintains traffic control and the
State and Town laws. At the turn of the 21st century, the force had grown to 21
fulltime officers headed by a chief and supported by administrative staff in a
new building on State Street (Route 202), It is assisted in its work by the
Metropolitan Police at Quabbin and the State Police. Additionally, and
extensive Emergency Medical Technician Team with two ambulances is often called
upon, and has saved many lives.
There are a number of
cemeteries in town, most of those quite old. Early records show a meeting held
in 1743 in which a committee was appointed to lay out a burial yard to
accommodate the southeast part of the town. This is the oldest ground in the
town and is known as the “old or Forward Burying Ground” now South Cemetery. It
lies about a mile southeast of the center of Belchertown at the foot of
Fuller’s Hill off Route 181, containing the remains of many of the original
settlers. Many of the old families preferred to bury their members on their own
lands and some even chose their front yards as suitable places. However, in
1766, more land was needed and a second cemetery near Lake Metacomet was
established. To care for the cemeteries money was appropriated from the animal
pound fund and the areas were fenced in. Several other old cemeteries include
Olds Burial Ground in the south part of town and Dwight Station Cemetery. The
principal cemetery in the town is Mount Hope Cemetery located in back of the
Congregational Church. This was laid
out in 1846 and contains many handsome monuments.
V. EARLY
INDUSTRIES
Today Belchertown is a
“bedroom community” with most residents commuting to jobs in Amherst,
Springfield and even to Hartford and Boston.
Until the 1950’s, the chief industry of the town was farming. Second was “private entrepreneurship” -
insurance brokerage, store-keeping, auto repair, provisions stores, and service
industry. Because of the rocky soil, dairy farming was more successful than
crop farming. But growing taxes, increased land prices for homes and more
competitive markets have caused the farming industry to disappear with only a
few old farms still operating. Entrepreneurship continues and prospers yet
today.
But in the town’s early days many industries were
maintained. The following is a list of
the products turned out in Belchertown in the year 1845.
65 pair of boots 1,500 bricks 30 plows 76,782 Braided palm leaf
hats & monuments
200 pair of shoes 1
organ valued at $300.00 475
hats and caps
1000 rakes 677
wagons and sleighs valued at $40,440.00
1,200 dollars worth of
saddles, harnesses and trunks
700 dollars worth of
chairs 250 dozen
shovels, forks and hoes
Lumbering was also an
important industry in former days with the large pine and hardwood
forests. Water power was an important
and available adjunct to industry and Belchertown’s many streams show remains
of mill ponds and dams today. Jabish Brook and other brooks furnished power for
many saw mills and grist mills. The industry gradually diminished from the town
as the abundant forests grew smaller and other more mobile sources of power
developed. On the west branch of Swift River was Slab City known for its paper
mill. Lumber still remains a major industry in Belchertown with several large
land owners cultivating and selling timber, particularly the town’s largest
land owner, the W.D. Cowles Co. of Amherst.
One of the great early industries of the town was
Smith’s Cigar factory, located across the tracks from the railroad station near
the currant Route 202 (State Street) bridge.
Erected in 1886 by J. R. Gould, it was intended to be used for a boot
manufactory. This building was large enough to employ more than 200 people, but
was forced to move in the 1900's. The old Railroad Station, near collapse, was
demolished in 1971. In this same vicinity, in the early and mid 1900’s,
operated the Warren and Ryther grain mill, servicing the local agricultural
community as a grist mill, and a receiving point for rail shipment of grain and
other commodities. A vast fire consumed the major part of the facility in 1970
On the south end of town a
major water powered factory, built in the late1800’s flourished and gave
employment to the people of Bondsville and South Belchertown, harnessing the
vast water power of the Swift River. It too succumbed to a great fire in 1968,
leaving only the dam, sluice-way and a tall chimney which was demolished in
1999
The fame of Belchertown was
well-known for Belchertown Creamery butter which had its factory just up the
hill from Parson’s Field, and sold its butter in towns and cities across the
state. This business was started in November, 1889, in Turkey Hill by Dwight F.
Shumway and Monroe Heath. Hose-drawn
teams would visit farms in Enfield, Greenwich (now under Quabbin Reservoir),
Ludlow and Belchertown to pick up cream.
Before 1917 as many as twenty-two trains of the Boston-Maine and Central
Vermont railroads would whip tons of butter a day to large cities. At the climax, the industry made $75,000 a
year. One by one the dairy farms disappeared or sold their milk to larger
dairies, and so the creamery closed in 1917, and another great industry left
the town.
During the early 1800's, one
of the little known industries in Belchertown was located in Dwight Station at
the southern end of Gulf Brook. A small
canal still runs for a quarter mile where the power from this canal ran
machines which made fine guns in a gun shop, which has since disappeared. One type of gun that they made was a twelve
gauge, single-shot muzzle loader. In the same general location prospered “Pansy
Park”, an agricultural enterprise which developed new breeds of pansies,
marketing seed nation wide. Near the lakes a popular dance hall developed
attracting young couples from near and far to dance on it’s dance floor on
springs!
Belchertown’s fame was spread across the United
States by the carriage industry. From
the early 1800's until after the Civil War, when business dropped sharply
because of competition from the West, there were eight carriage shops in town,
where buggies, sleighs, etc. were manufactured. The first wagon made was painted light blue outside and yellow
inside and was nicknamed “Warner’s Butterfly”. The first carriage shops were
located on Federal Street - Route 9 near 202, and other shops were located on
South Main Street, such as Cowles Manufacturing. One factory was located at the center of the town where the gas
station is now located at Park and Jabish Streets. In the year 1845, 677 wagons
were manufactured valued at $40,440.
These carriages were shipped to all parts of the East and as far South
as Virginia. One even went to
Persia. In the “History of Western
Massachusetts” Josiah Gilbert Holland has stated that Belchertown produced more
fine carriages than any other town of any size in the state. The finest make of carriages proudly bore
the label “Made in Belchertown.”
VI. OUR
MILITARY HISTORY
When the French and Indian war broke out again in 1744, townspeople
were taxed heavily. Forty men were
drafted from sixty families and the community suffered greatly since the old
men, women and children had to take over all the heavy farmwork. Under Col.
Nathaniel Dwight, these men saw considerable action in several campaigns, and
three men were killed. The pay that they drew was no help to their families
back home - a soldier made 44 cents a month and a captain only 83 cents.
At the beginning of the
Revolutionary War, the first provincial congress told the tax gatherers, in
1774, not to pay the incoming taxes to the King’s treasurer because he was a
Tory and sided with England. Belchertown
was the very first town to pay taxes to Henry Gardner who was sent by the
provincial congress to collect town taxes. This act struck a severe blow to the
Loyalist English government in America.
On November 4, 1775, the
people of Belchertown gathered in their meeting house and organized a militia
company with Caleb Clark, Captain;
Joseph Graves and John Cowles, Lieutenents; and Elijah Dwight, Ensign. They already had a stock of ammunition - it
had been ordered from Providence, Rhode Island some time before. All these war
materials were put into the custody of Elijah Dwight, son of Col. Nathaniel
Dwight. They were now ready to fight.
The day after the battle of Lexington, two companies marched from
Belchertown. One of these companies of 35 men, under the leadership of Capt.
Jonathan Bardwell, joined with the regiment led by Col. Johathan Warner of
Hardwick. The other company was led by
Capt. John Cowles, and joined Col. Ruggles Woodbridge’s regiment. There were 34 men from Belchertown and 26
men from Granby. These Minutemen served
for a short time, and many of them re-enlisted with still others joining them.
In July, 1777, a Belchertown
company of 27 men, led by Lts. Aaron Phelps and James Walker, marched 140 miles
to join Col. Porter’s regiment just before General Burgoyne’s surrender,
cutting the way for their boats through miles of ice, and, suffering such
hardships, the town voted them double pay. Burgoyne and his soldiers were
marched through Belchertown on their way to Boston after their surrender. Belchertown men fought at Bunker Hill;
Dorchester Heights; through the Maine Wilderness Campaign; West Point at
Andre’s capture; New Jersey Campaign; and were with Washington at Yorktown when
Cornwallis surrendered. Belchertown men
left for these campaigns sometimes with less than a day’s notice. Young Private
Pratt of West Hill left his plow in the field, his home unfinished, with only a
blanket for a door. His young wife with her three small children lay sleepless
many a night during his three year’s absence, hearing the Indians softly
padding by along the footpaths, or the wolves howling in the woods. Some of the men returned, as Moses Cowles
did, to find his home burned, his children dead, and his wife’s health
completely destroyed.
Of the 980 men, women and
children in the community over 300 saw actual service in the Revolution, and
the others, though poverty stricken, were very active in supporting the revolt
with their time and money. Belchertown,
one of the smallest towns, ranked second in Hampshire county in service in the
Rebel Cause.
After the War, the citizens
found themselves with almost no money, and their farms ruined by neglect, since
the land had not been worked with the men away fighting. The time was right for a private
revolution. Although Shays Rebellion
had its start in Pelham several local men took part in the ill-fated assault on
the Springfield Arsenal and the movement received popular support with over 60
involved Belchertown men. Daniel Shays
Highway, the northerly section of Rte. 202 from Belchertown, was named for this
popular but misguided leader.
Belchertown’s population at the time of the Civil
War was 2700. (In 1970 - 4,500!) However, it sent 230 men to fight the War
Between the States. The pride felt by
the citizens is best typified by the Little Drummer Boy, Myron Walker whose
story is told later under the “Famous People section”.
Many men from town have
fought in every war. Some of their names are engraved on the Soldier’s Monument
in the center of the common; others on a plaque in the Memorial Hall. The
cemeteries on Memorial Day are filled with small flags by the gravestones
denoting each soldier’s service to our country.
VII. FAMOUS
PEOPLE OF BELCHERTOWN
During the Civil War, the
town contributed 280 soldiers; among them was the 14 year old drummer boy, Myron
Walker. For some time previous to
his enlistment he had been an expert at the handling of drumsticks. Once while
he was drumming in a drill in Ware he attracted the attention of a visiting
German count, who was so impressed by the lad’s playing he presented an
inscribed silver cup to Myron.
When the War started many of
Myron Walker’s local associates joined the army, but they did it too slowly to
suit Myron. So he accompanied an eager
number of townspeople to Springfield, and then, with the consent of his
parents, joined the army, at the age of 14, attached to Company C of the
Volunteer 10th Regiment of Massachusetts infantry. He was with the army at all the hand-fought battles and was
frequently at the front under fire.
The day after the Battle of Fair Oaks, while Drummer
Boy Walker was using his battered, smoke-blackened cup to fill his canteen at a
stream, General McClellen came riding along on his horse and asked the lad for
a drink. The boy landed it to him,
apologizing for the condition of the cup.
The General’s response was so pleasantly sympathetic that he left behind
a great admirer.
In later years Myron was to
rise to the rank of Colonel and build a fortune in the insurance business on
the Pacific coast. He returned to
Belchertown and built a great house, the most beautiful in the entire
town. Magnificent dinners and parties
were given there with the Governor and other important men as guests. This house was located just next to the
Methodist Church. It had a fine, two story stable in the rear where the stable
boys would sleep over the stalls.
Myron’s silver cup is in a case in the main hall of the Stone House,
where it has been cleaned and looks like new, and his drummer boy’s uniform is
still preserved there in a glass case. The grand house at the center of the
west side of the commons, was scheduled to be torn down for a new bank building
and Post Office in 1980. It was rescued by resident George Jackson, cut
in three parts, lifted and transported to its new location on State Street (Rt.
202) across from the entrance of the former Belchertown State School, and
re-assembled, where it sits proudly today. This architectural loss to the town
center was replace by a modern set of building across from Old Town Hall
One of the most famous
people of the early town was Myron Lawrence. His home once stood where the Clapp Memorial Library stands
now. Mr. Lawrence studied law in the
office of Mark Doolittle in Belchertown.
At the age of 27 he was a member of the Massachusetts General court and
served in the Senate for two years.
Greatly interested in the welfare of Belchertown, he was a guiding
influence in the building of the New London and Northern Railroad. Myron Lawrence died in 1852. His daughter
Sarah Lawrence later married Mr. Robinson who became the first governor of the
state of Kansas. The Lawrences frowned upon this marriage because they felt Mr.
Robinson would never amount to anything.
Sarah’s faith in her husband proved to be well-founded. Sarah Lawrence Robinson gave the
money for Lawrence Memorial Hall, at the southeast corner of Main, Maple and
Jabish Streets some years later in memory of her father.
Josiah Gilbert Holland was born in the northern
part of the town now called Holland Glen (off Route 9) in his honor. Mr. Holland was a well known author, and
was editor of the Springfield Republican before his death in Springfield in
1881.
Dr. Edward Shumway graduated from Amherst
College in 1879, and left the next year to study in Europe, later writing many
books in the Greek and Latin languages.
He is noted for publishing a magazine called the “Latine”, one of the very
few magazines ever published in the Latin language. His sister was Mrs. Leila Curtis. She was custodian of the Stone
House Museum for many years.
A prominent educator, author
of many arithmetic and geography books, Wilbur F. Nichols graduated from
Amherst College in 1880. He came to
Belchertown to spend the last years of his life, and lived in one of the
smaller homes on the east side of South Main Street.
Belchertown’s first doctor was Dr. Estes Howe
who also gave a portion of land for the common. His house was located on the
North end of the common, standing on the Corner of North Main and Jackson Streets. Dr. Howe served in the American army in
1777 on a tour of duty as a doctor, fighting all the way to Fort Ticonderoga on
the north shore of Lake George where it meets Lake Champlain in New York. It was a very exciting day in 1825, when
General Lafayette, while touring the area, stopped for a visit at Dr. Howe’s
house and exchanged old war memories.
Elijah Coleman Bridgeman born in Belchertown in
1801, was a noted American missionary to China. He translated into Chinese a version of the Bible which was
better than any previously written. His
home was in the Lake Vale district (Lake Vale Cemetery) which is now the
Fournier home.
Belchertown ‘s first
minister was Rev. Edward Billings.
He served the Congregational Church in the years 1739-1752 and had
graduated with honors from Harvard College.
Rev. Justus Forward was Belchertown’s most
popular early minister and served in the town over fifty-nine years. Rev. Forward graduated from College in 1754
and died at the age of 84.
Elihu Root, born in Belchertown in 1845, graduated from
Amherst College and studied medicine in Europe. He was the first American to receive a doctor’s degree from the
University of Berlin. In later years he
became a professor of Physics at Amherst College.
Honorable Mark Doolittle did much to preserve the
history of the town. He graduated from
Yale College and returned to Belchertown, his birthplace, to open a law
office. In 1852 he published a book narrating
the entire history of the Congregational Church from 1736 to 1850 called,
“Doolittle’s Sketches”, which can be found in the town library.
Rev. Horatio Bardwell was a native of
Belchertown, and was named a minister to India in 1815. In the same year he
sailed to Ceylon, then joined a ministry to Bombay, India until 1821 when he
became sick and had to return to America.
In 1823 he became a minister in Malden, MA.
A noted composer and
organist, Edward H. Phelps, lived in his home on what has since become
the McLaughlin State Fish Hatchery. He later became editor of the New England
Homestead.
Many old-time residents
remember Gaston Plantiff. Son
of a barber in town, he became Henry Ford’s right-hand man in the early days of
the automobile industry. His
Belchertown home was the brick building on Jabish Street, in back of the corned
gas station near the center. Mr.
Plantiff interested Henry Ford in building the Annex for the Stone House, where
many interesting antique buggies are displayed, and he gave the original picket
fence around the Stone House grounds.
His memorial in the Mt. Hope cemetery is an elaborate plot of restful
beauty.
A well-known, and more recent native (1965) of
Belchertown, Rev. Newell Snow Booth, served as an American missionary to
Africa and is now Methodist Bishop of the area. His sister, Mrs. Harold Suhm,
was also a resident of Belchertown. He has played an important role in teaching
the people of Africa to become better acquainted with modern ways and
agriculture, especially in the Belgian Congo.
A well-known horticulturist,
Arthur B. Howard, developed the Howard 17 strawberry and Howard Star
Petunia, widely grown around the
country.
One can not close this section with out noting a
person who contributed significantly to the growth and development of
Belchertown during the last half of the 1900’s. William Gerry Whitlock,
born in Callis, Maine, settled in Belchertown in the 1950s to raise chickens on
his farm on North Street just west of Route 9. Entering town politics early, he
steered the town’s development from the late 50’s through the early 90’s, as
Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and later as the town’s first paid manager
with the title of Executive Secretary. He passed on in 1997, shortly after his
retirement.
VIII. NOTABLE HOMES OF INTEREST
The Stone House - Built in 1827 as a wedding present to Mr. and Mrs. Theodore
Lyman by her parents, the Johathan Dwights, the Stone House Museum on Maple
Street hill, is now the home of the Belchertown Historical Association. It was
given to the association by Mrs. Harriet Dwight Longley. Its’ interior
resembles an 1800’s home and does not have the appearance of a museum. In the
hall of the Stone House is a bronze tablet in memory of Willard A. Stebbins,
who had made the House his chief interest in later life. Since Mr. Stebbins
gave many articles to the House before his death, one of the bedrooms on the
second floor is named for him. His family descended from the first settlers in
town and his donations were of major historical interest. The Ford Annex
is located in the rear of the Stone House Museum and contains carriages,
sleighs, wagons and buggies which were all made in Belchertown, as well as
spinning wheels, old bikes, a stage coach and other items of long-ago. Other rooms in the Stone House are
devoted to dolls, books, and china. In the fireproof room there are rare pieces
of china, glass, jewelry, money (including bills printed in Belchertown) and
shakers of all kinds. Standing in the
windows are beautiful plaster of Paris statues made by Roger Williams which
were affordable for poorer people to purchase and keep and keep in their homes.
The statues portray scenes of early American life and are very realistic. Many papers of historical interest are
preserved in the Stone House records. A separate building contains the presses
that printed the Belchertown Sentinel for Blackmer during the first part of the
1900.
The Stebbins House,
located on Stebbins Street. It is the
second house on the land of one of the first settlers, Benjamin Stebbins. The original house is said to have stood
across the road. The present house
dates back to 1767.
The Bridgeman Houses
are both located on Bay Road. The old “red” house, just west of Metacomet
Street is the older of the two, and was built along the Old Bay Path in 1773 by
Oliver Bridgeman. The first cabin of Ebenezer Bridgeman was located just
northeast of the present house. The
second house, the old gambrel roof house across Bay Road, was built by Lt.
Theodore Bridgeman, and was later the home of Elijah Coleman Bridgeman, early
missionary to China and translator of the Bible. .
The Witt and Gold Houses
(two matching old Victorians) on South Main Street were originally old square
houses and nearer to the road. The Witt
house was once the home of Mark Doolittle, early historian and lawyer of the
town. The second, more recently known as the Gold House, was at one time the
Clapp homestead. The Clapps owned a
stage line in town and owned the Union House, an early hotel on the site of the
Lawrence Memorial Hall.
Montague House, a white frame house located
further south on South Main Street, is
now used as an apartment house. It was
built by Deacon Ephraim Montague in 1840 with profits derived from the silkworm
and mulberry business which flourished for a short time in this town.
Dwight House, a large white framed house
located on the south west corner of Maple and South Main Streets, across from
Lawrence memorial Hall is now used for offices. On this spot Justas Dwight built a home in 1765. The present structure, formerly a
magnificent home, was built by Jonathan Dwight, son of Justas, and was used for
a time as a tavern. Jonathan Dwight also built the Stone House for his daughter
as a wedding present. The two houses next south from the Dwight house were
built by the Dwight’s in 1835, in the former gardens of the Dwight House.
Parson’s House, a large white frame house
located on Main Street across from the commons, was built in 1771 by a man named Corbin or Corbitt. The roof was supposedly used as a signal
tower during the Revolutionary War.
Jonathan Greer, inventor of the signal telegraph, lived here at one
time. The house was used as an early
farmer’s bank until the quarters in the near by Mason’s building site were
ready.
The Lincoln House is
located on North Main Street at the corner of Woodhaven Street. Very old, it
was at one time the only house between the top of the hill and the Crystal
Spring Farm. At the first town election
the group of citizens collected was supposed to have met at this house for the
election of officers.
Crystal Spring Farm, located on North Main
Street, was built as a wedding present for Nancy Howe and Ichabod Sanford. She was the daughter of the town’s first
doctor, Dr. Estes Howe. The north end of the house was not finished at first,
but was left as a cabinet shop for Ichabod Sanford. Dr. Howe lived in a house
at the top of the hill, just North of the common, where he was visited by
Lafayette who was passing through town to the laying of the cornerstone of the
Bunker Hill Monument in 1825.
Washington School is a fine example of an old
one-room schoolhouse. Located in the southern part of town, there has been a
movement considered to restore its old fashioned charm.
IX. NOTABLE PLACES OF INTEREST
Lawrence Memorial Hall: A gift for a new public
meeting place had been made by Sarah Robinson and in 1921, when the old High
School burned down, it was voted to combine the hall and high school. In 1923 the Lawrence Memorial Hall was built. Mrs. Robinson gave $10,000 for the building
and the town raised $30,000. The
building is named after Mrs. Robinson’s father, Myron Lawrence. Renovated in the late 1980’s when the school
moved to Chestnut Hill, all of the town officials have their offices here
except school officials. After the
“new” high school was built in 1964 the building housed only the fifth and
sixth grade students.
Clapp Memorial Library: John Francis Clapp, founder of the Clapp Memorial Library was
born in Belchertown in 1818. He left an estate of $40,000 to build a public
library in his home town after his death. It was opened to the public on
September 1, 1887. The building is in
the form of a Latin cross and was built of Longmeadow brownstone, with the roof
and tower of red tiling. The library, reading room and stage were arranged so
that they can be opened into one large audience room if necessary. In the library are two memorial
windows: the North window in memory of
Calvin Bridgeman and the South window in memory of John Francis Clapp. New rooms, on the second floor, were later
finished to accommodate the office of the then School Superintendent.
The Stone House Museum: The Stone House Museum was built in 1827 as a home for Mr. and
Mrs. Theodore Lyman by her parents, the Jonathan Dwights, and is now the home
of the Belchertown Historical Association. Built during one of the town’s most
prosperous periods, this Federal-style home contains superb examples of
American furniture, china, and decorative accessories, made in the 1700’s and
1800’s. The museum houses an exceptionally strong collection of the 18th
and 19th century ceramics. The museum, a private home for nearly one
hundred years, houses a broad representation of American furniture, including
many fine Connecticut Valley examples.
Examples of an outstanding collection of costumes, textiles and
needlework is on display throughout the house. The museum has long been known
for it’s collection of Rogers Groups by the sculptor John Rogers. An extensive
archival collection of historical records includes genealogical records of early
families, schools, churches, military records, starting with the Revolutionary
War; town organizations and businesses . Eight rooms are open for public
viewing.
Henry Ford 1 donated the
funds for the Ford Annex which houses carriages and sleighs made in
Belchertown, a Concord Coach and an early hearse owned by the town.
Between1800-1850 the town was at the center of a bustling carriage industry.
The Blackmer Print Shop, also on site, contains the printing press and other
equipment used by Lewis Blackmer, editor and printer of the Belchertown
Sentinel for 50 years.
The Stone House Museum is
open May-October and year round for research for a small administration fee.
Special tours and group tours by appointment
Congregational Church: The very first church in
Belchertown was the Congregational Church. It was incorporated in 1737, just a
year after the town was founded. Some of the first male members of the church
were: Samuel Bascom, Benjamin Stebbins,
Aaron Lyman and John Bardwell. The first church in 1737 was on the west side of
South Main Street and stood between where the two large Victorian houses are
now. The present church, built on town land, was dedicated September 12, 1792.
It has been enlarged and remodeled several times, but at one time was facing
the common; almost square in shape, with three galleries and a high pulpit on
the East side.
Methodist Church: On June 16, 1873, the Methodist Society purchased a lot from
Sophia Bartlett to build on. Hearing
of the sale of the Union Street Church in Springfield, Silas Morse, Edward
Gay, J.V. Thompson and Rev. McLaughlin
made arrangements to buy the old church, dismantled it and moved it to
Belchertown. The cornerstone of the
church was laid in 1875. Prior to this
time the Methodists had met in private homes of the members.
Saint Francis RC Church: The church building was originally built for the Brainard
Church, an old division of the Congregationalists. After these churches were
reunited, the building was used by the Baptist Society, then used as a
community hall and the steeple was torn down. In 1925 the St. Francis parish
remodeled the building to suit their needs.
From the beginning, the parish included Granby and the Belchertown State
School. Granby formed its own parish, finally, in 1951. Dr. Eulick Sullivan, a
resident of Belchertown, donated a beautiful altar in memory of his son, Eulick
Francis Sullivan. This is how the church came to be dedicated under the
patronage of St. Francis. A large room
was more recently completed under the church for recreation purposes. St. Francis Parish, having outgrown the
church facility on Park Street, broke ground for it’s new church on Jabish
Street in 2003
Dwight Chapel: A community effort built
the church in North Belchertown. Many families participated and women’s
organizations pledged the first $200, raising the money by making and selling
pot holders. On March 12, 1887, a service of thanksgiving was held and the church
was dedicated free of debt. In 1961 an
auction was held to modernize the chapel, replace the wood stove with an oil
burner and drill a well to give the church running water at last.
Saint
Adalberth’s Church: Located in South Belchertown,
this church was many years in the building stage and was finally completed in
1926, under the direction of Father Oswald Loretan. Father Loretan served 35
years as the parish pastor.
Quabbin Reservoir: When a great new water supply was needed for towns and cities in
the Eastern part of the state, including Boston, the Swift River Valley was
turned into a huge man-made reservoir.
As early as 1833 the future need for water in Boston was realized. By
1895 there were rumors that our Valley would be the location of the reservoir. For awhile nothing was done on the project.
Finally on April 26, 1927, the Massachusetts legislature approved an act
directing the Metropolitan Water Supply Commission to develop the Quabbin
Reservoir in the upper Swift River Valley.
There were three branches of the Swift River - the West branch went
through Shutesbury, Prescott and Enfield. The Middle branch went through New
Salem, Dana, Prescott and Greenwich, and the East branch through Dana and
Greenwich. In all, four towns -
Enfield, Dana, Greenwich and Prescott - were totally destroyed by the project,
and sizeable parts of New Salem, Pelham and Belchertown were taken for this
immense project, built during the early Depression Years.
Greenwich was a pretty
little town of many villages, with many lakes and streams, making it a fine
place for summer camps. Dana was more industrialized with a hat industry and
many factories. Boy Scout Camp Coolidge was located here. Prescott was a hill town with rather poor
soil and was the youngest of the four.
Enfield, the largest and most important town taken, was a close neighbor
to Belchertown both physically and socially. It had many fine farms and a
well-developed town center. Many of its
refugees settled in Belchertown and memorial services were held for many years
in the Methodist Church so that old friends and neighbors could gather together
once again.
The Valley was completely
surrounded by hills to form a natural reservoir except for two gaps in the
southern part. Into the gap left by
Swift river the main dam was built; and into the other gap, left by Beaver Brook,
a dike was constructed. The main dam is 170 feet above the Valley, and is 2,640
feet long; constructed of four million
yards of material. Quabbin Dike is not
quite as large. A system of aqueducts
carried the water to Boston. Mr. Frank
Windsor, the project’s chief engineer, died just before it was completed, and
the main dam is named in his honor, Windsor Dam. There are roads around the southern ends of the reservoir and a
fire tower on Quabbin Hill, providing a beautiful view of the reservoir. The waters of Quabbin recede during periods
of long drought, and it is possible to see the foundations of old homes, rusted
antiques, bridge stands and even some roads. Those interred in the four
cemeteries of the four towns were moved to the new Quabbin Cemetery on Route 9,
just over the town line in Ware The
area has become a famous wildlife preserve with even a few wildcats and eagles
spotted about; deer abound, and the waters offer excellent fishing for
sportsmen.
X. EDUCATION THROUGH THE YEARS
Until the town was
incorporated there were no schools - the children being taught reading, writing
and figuring by their parents on long winter evenings by candle and firelight.
The Bible was the most important textbook and some children had read it through
twice by the time they were seven years old. Early farmers had little need to
know more than the three R’s. Parents felt religious and moral education was
more important, and all children were raised with strict discipline. An
impolite child was unheard of.
As the town grew, however, the need for more formal
education grew, and in 1762 the first school was established. The first teacher was paid six pounds a
semester, no more than the bounty paid on wolves at a later date. He boarded
with local families and depended on the charity of the farmers for his
comforts.
The town was divided into
several one-room school districts in 1784. Some of the first district schools
were: Blue Meadow, Laurel, Lake Vale, Washington (which is still standing),
Liberty, Log Town and a high school in the center of town. Most children would
go to school in the winter, but stayed home during the spring, summer and fall
months to work on the family farms. School was kept from 9-12 and 1-4. Children
walked many miles or rode farm animals in bad weather to attend them. The early
schools depended upon small wood burning stoves for heat, and the children were
expected to contribute their share of the wood for the stoves. Children near
the stoves roasted, those in the middle were singed, those furthest away froze,
and all suffocated from the smoke. Older boys were a common problem, often
being bigger than the teacher. A new schoolmaster sometimes had to beat up a
bully before he could maintain discipline.
The first graduating class
from any school was in 1816. In all, there were twenty decentralized regional
school buildings in Belchertown. The Town is one of the three largest political
land masses in the Commonwealth. Travel to school was difficult, made possible
only if within a “walking distance”. In 1835 the first “centralized” school
opened as the Belchertown Classical School, located in the center of the town.
This was a private school for both young men and women, and taught Latin,
Greek, literature and writing. It’s girls’ teacher, Hannah Lyman, later became
president of Vassar College.
Union School: Built in 1903 this is a one-room building located at Dwight
Station on the then main road to Amherst.
It had a large playground, but for many years did not have electricity,
water, or telephones. In 1954 Union School was closed, but the building is
still standing.
Franklin School: The first building of this school was a one-room structure now
being used as a home. The second
school had two classrooms, but it burned. The third and present building has
three rooms and was built on the foundation of the second schoolhouse. This
school for many years contained first and second grade pupils from the South
Belchertown area, but closed as a school in 1992 when the Swift River School
was completed.
Center School: The first wooden centralized high school building, known as
Center School, was erected in 1867 off Maple Street hill behind the Stone House
Museum, to supplement the decentralized “school houses”. With the annex, there was room for High,
Grammar and Primary pupils, there being a total of only 133 students in all
grades at this location. This school
burned in 1921 and the Center Grade School was rebuilt for elementary
students on the same site in 1923, the High School being replaced with the then
newly constructed Lawrence Memorial Hall.
It was made of brick and had four classrooms and an open “auditorium” in
the center. Classes were held in the
basements of the Methodist Church, Catholic Church and upstairs at the old Fire
Station while these buildings were being built. Center School closed as an
educational facility in 1992 when Swift River School was completed, later
housing the School Superintendent’s Offices.
Centralized:
With improved roads and greater emphasis placed on education and thus a
greater coast to the town, the 20 one-room classrooms scattered throughout the
town began to close and join history over the years, but they did not go
quickly, with the last operating sub-community school, Franklin School, closing
in 1992. For over a century these small regionalized community one room school
facilities combined with home schooling, were the backbone of education for
Belchertown youth in their primary years
Cold Spring School: This school was completed in 1954 to accommodate grades 1-6 and
was located in the south center of the town.
A large modern structure, it soon proved too small for the growing
number of pupils, and in 1964 a new building was constructed
JR.-SR. High School: Building on South Washington Street in 1964, a new Jr. Sr. High
School was constructed for $3 million, for grades 7-12 designed to hold nearly
600 students. This building contained a
fully equipped shop, household arts room, modern gym, boy’s and girl’s locker
rooms, scientific laboratory, music room, library, foreign language laboratory
and fully equipped cafeteria - a “first of it’s kind” for Belchertown. Outside facilities include a broad and high
jumping area, shot put area, full soccer field, baseball field, and, inside, a
full basketball court. Rearrangement
of students allowed all schools to be occupied with grades 1-3 in Cold Spring
School, grade 4 in Center School and 5 & 6 in Memorial School, an
arrangement which lasted only 20 years.
New School Buildings: At the turn of the Century
new schools include Chestnut Hill Community School, opened as a “middle
school”, built as a school and community facility with state appropriations for
recreation in 1985, Swift river Elementary School, 1992, and a 1000 student
High School built in 2002 as the number of students swells to 2600 in school
year 2003-04
XI. BELCHERTOWN STATE SCHOOL
FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED:
The story goes that two institutions
were to be built in the area of Amherst/Belchertown. Belchertown was given
first choice between having and Agricultural College or a facility for the
feeble minded. Fearing for their daughters welfare should a predominantly male
institution of higher education be built in the community, residents sought the
facility for the feeble minded. Today Amherst has the University of
Massachusetts and Belchertown has the “former” Belchertown State School! Truth
or fiction not known!
For sometime the townspeople had
worked hard to encourage the state to build a “state school for the
feeble-minded” here. When the good news
was finally brought back from Boston by D. D. Hazen, a large group met him at
the train station with a torchlight parade and a big celebration was held. In
1917 ten boys from the Wrentham State Colony arrived and a sum of $150,000 was appropriated
from the state treasury to begin construction.
From these simple beginnings sprang an institution on 800 Belchertown
acres, best described as a town within a town. Over 200 acres were once under cultivation, a herd of registered
cattle and large poultry flocks provide most of the food needs of the school.
It had its own water system and the first engineered sewage system (eventually
shared with the town), power plant, fire department and telephone system. On the grounds, over thirteen dormitories
house from 50 to 150 residents each, and there was a hospital, dental clinic,
kitchens, laundry, carpentry shop, print shop, shoe repair shop, primary school
and industrial school for the residents. A large auditorium permitted them to
have movies once a week and other types of entertainment, all shared with the
town.
The residents at the school ranged in age from one
year old to 88 years old. Although many
are grown men and women, their minds never developed beyond childhood. The older residents were capable of a great
deal, however, and with adult supervision, carried on most of the work done at
the school. Many did beautiful
handcraft work and won prizes at the local fair. Many of the younger residents attended regular school classes on
the grounds and were able to graduate from the sixth grade.
The school provided steady
employment for the townspeople even during difficult years. Many of the
townspeople still hold loving and cherished memories of those residents they
came to know through there employment at the State School In emergencies, the town used the school’s
water system. The school shared its water treatment plant with the town,
enabling the town to provide a sewer collection system - at no cost -
throughout the Town’s center. During World War II the State School’s telephone
office served as an air raid warning station, and later served as the regional
communications center for the Civil Defense organization. In all, Belchertown and its State School
were an excellent example of community cooperation.
Beginning in the 1970’s the State came under review
by the courts in their handling of the mentally retarded at all the state’s
campuses. Advocates for the retarded demanded community placements rather then
segregation on campuses away from society. Acting under court orders, the state
began closing schools for the mentally retarded during the 1980’s, and the
Belchertown State School closed it’s doors in 1992. No funds were allocated to
maintain closed properties and deterioration soon set in. The Town, to the tune
of $10 million, rebuilt the Water Treatment Plant. Town Meeting authorized the
development of an Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC) with a
mandate to obtain ownership and put the former state facility back into use,
with its\’s goal being to bring in and expand business that would increase and
broaden the tax base from basically residential, and to create job
opportunities. After ten years of non use - no maintenance - many of the
buildings are in disrepair and possibly beyond practical re-use, but in 2004 it
became apparent these goal might well be reached at the former Belchertown
State School through the efforts of devoted citizen volunteers working through
the EDIC.
XII.
BELCHERTOWN WATER DISTRICT:
The Belchertown Water District is a
privately owned corporation controlled by it’s water users, developed in the
early 1900’s, and run by three elected commissioners. While other communities
around Belchertown have rationed water and drew from Quabbin Reservoir during
drought years, Belchertown’s water system , originally serving only the center
of town, had none of these problems.
The original source of the
town’s water supply was nine driven wells, none more than 32 feet deep, just
off Jensen Road. The pumping station
there first lifted the water to a standpipe in back of the Congregational
Church on the Town Common for use by over 315 families. This system, begun in
1924, has never failed its water purity test in Boston. D. Donald Hazen served as water commissioner
in 1933. In the early 1980’s a second
larger water storage tank was built on a hill top off Allen Road between Route
9 and Route 202, to serve the additional and growing populations. In the late
1980’s an additional well field, the Daigle Wells, was added, increasing
significantly the quantity and quality of water reserves. The wells were sunk
in an aquifer shared by Amherst, in the north west of town, between Goodell and
Federal Streets, and an additional water supply line along Federal Street and
Bay Road, from the wells to the Allen Road tank, was installed. The “Lakes
Area” was added to the water distribution system at that time.
XIII.
BELCHERTOWN SEWER DISTRICT:
In the late
1930's the town’s center also installed a sewer system under the Federal WPA
project act. The system was run by
appointed Sewer Commissioners until 1992 at which time it was placed
under the operations of the Department of Public Works. This early town system
was connected to the Belchertown State School operated Water Treatment Plant,
and served about 250 families as well as the local schools. Upon the closing of
the Belchertown State School in 1992, the town was faced with closure of the
facility unless the Town took it over and, to meet new Federal EPA
requirements, built a $10 million treatment plant. Having little choice the
town assumed operation of the plant, rebuilt the facility and has sense added
sewer lines to a much larger portion of the town, including Pine Valley
Plantation Mobile Home Park via Old Springfield Road, and the entire “Lakes
District” including Bay Road (the Old Bay Bath) and Old Federal Street. The
District, now stands among the best and most progressive districts in the
Commonwealth and its user base grows exponentially.
NOTES
This
article has listed many things of
historical interest about our town. But there are other things, things that we
see every day, that we take for granted. The old stone walls, found everywhere,
are not an accident. Little paths in the woods went somewhere long ago. Abandoned
cellar holes in the deep woods hold memories. The defined shape of an old mill
pond with eroded dam, powered former industry and improved the local economy. A
row of grown maple trees produced sweets. The old big tree on the corner, or a
lilac bush standing alone in a field, were put there by someone. The next time you pass by them, take a good
look and take time to wonder. Who
walked here in a time before me, and what were their lives all about.
While
many changes have taken place in our small town, we like to think “spirit” has
not changed - it still encourages many of our citizens to devote long voluntary
hours with little or no payment “for the good of the town.” And the success of our community will be
possible only if there are others to carry on this spirit. You can be proud of
your inheritance and your community’s past, but only you can make the community
proud of its future.
As
we move into the next generation of residents, the future of our community lies
in question, the pressure to earn more/have more, the two income family with
children in day care, changing mores, more extensive after-hours childrearing
demands, the time left to devote to your community’s service gets left
diminished. For that reason, we are in fact beginning to lose those resources
that were so valuable in molding our historic past - citizen involvement
Doris_files/image001.gif){kind=small}
The
following books and booklets were used in assembling this paper:
Doolittle’s Sketches by Hon. Mark Doolittle, Published,
1852
Library Publisher - Hopkins, Bridgeman and Co.
Hampshsire County Gazetteer by W. B. Gay, published 1887
Library Publisher - W. B. Gay and
Co.
Historic Hampshire in the
Connecticut Valley by Clifton Johnson
Library Published 1932, publisher -
Milton Bradley and Co.
History of Western
Massachusetts by J. G. Holland, Vol. 1
Library Publisher - Bowie, MD and Heritage Books
Old Editions of Belchertown
Sentinel, by Lewis Blackmer
Library
The
Story of My Life by Daniel L. Hazen, published 1910 Stone House Published in Los Angeles, CA
Belchertown Bicentennial
Booklet, published 1961
Stone House Publisher - Walter Whitman, Inc.
History the Connecticut
Valley, by Louis H. Leverts,
published 1879
Stone House Publisher - J.
P. Lippincott and Co.
Excerpts from Notes of Mrs.
Marion Shaw
6th grade teacher
Stone House Center Grade School
Doris_files/image002.gif){kind=small}
Written by Kenneth A.
Dorey Circa 1965 By Kenneth A. Dorey
Updated
March 2004 By
Shirley Bock, Doris
Dickinson, & Dan
Fitzpatrick