East Forest Park is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

in the south-central part of

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

. The neighborhood borders East Longmeadow, Forest Park, and the Sixteen Acres neighborhood. It is a primarily residential

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

neighborhood.

Neighborhood

East Forest Park contains a wide variety of pre- and post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

homes on the hillside of

Watershops Pond Watershops Pond (or Lake Massasoit) is a lake in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. Located in the Upper Hill, Springfield, Massachusetts, Upper Hill neighborhood, it is the city's second-largest body of water, after the Connecticut River. Wat ...

, Springfield's largest body of water (other than the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

), and custom-built colonials and

Tudors The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Engl ...

, as well as capes and

ranches A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

. Several small commercial areas are located on Island Pond Road and Sumner Avenue. The neighborhood was home to Cathedral High School, formerly the city's only

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school. It merged with a

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

from

Holyoke Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...

, becoming

Pope Francis Preparatory School Pope Francis Preparatory School is a Catholic co-educational college-preparatory high school in Springfield, Massachusetts. The school was originally opened as Cathedral High School in 1883 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph at St. Michael's Cat ...

. In late 2019 the new home of the East Forest Park branch of the Springfield City Library was opened.

History

A section of the Highland Division Railroad, which ran from

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. ...

, to Springfield, ran through the neighborhood until it was decommissioned in 1993. In the years since, multiple proposals have been made to replace the abandoned sections of track with walking or biking trails, although none have come to fruition as of 2023. The neighborhood was hit hard by the June 1,

2011 New England tornado outbreak The 2011 New England Tornado Outbreak was a tornado outbreak that impacted the states of Massachusetts and Maine in New England, on June 1, 2011. A total of six tornadoes touched down in both western Massachusetts and western Maine. The stronges ...

References

External links

East Forest Park Civic Association Website
{{coord, 42, 5, 46.2, N, 72, 32, 15.7, W, region:US, display=title Neighborhoods in Springfield, Massachusetts