Hadley (, ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Hampshire County, Massachusetts Hampshire County is a historical and judicial county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 162,308. Its most populous municipality is Amherst (due to seasonal student population; the largest y ...

, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

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 ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and Mountain Farms Malls along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding communities.

History

Early

Hadley was first settled in 1659 and was officially incorporated in 1661. The former Norwottuck was renamed for Hadleigh, Suffolk. Its settlers were primarily a discontented group of families from the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

colonies of

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

and Wethersfield,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, who petitioned to start a new colony up north after some controversy over doctrine in the local church. The settlement was led by John Russell. The first settler inside of Hadley was Nathaniel Dickinson, who surveyed the streets of what is now Hadley, Hatfield, and Amherst. At the time, Hadley encompassed a wide radius of land on both sides of 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 ...

(but mostly on the eastern shore) including much of what would become known as the

Equivalent Lands The Equivalent Lands were several large tracts of land that the Province of Massachusetts Bay made available to settlers from the Connecticut Colony after April 1716. This was done as compensation for an equivalent area of territory that was under ...

. In the following century, these were broken off into precincts and eventually the separate towns of Hatfield, Amherst, South Hadley, Granby and Belchertown. The early histories of these towns are, as a result, filed under the history of Hadley. Lt. Gen. Edward Whalley and Maj. Gen. William Goffe, two Puritan generals hunted for their role in the execution (or "

regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

") of

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

, were hidden in the home of the town's minister, John Russell. During

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

, an attack by Native Americans was, by some accounts, thwarted with the aid of General Goffe. This event, compounded by the reluctance of the townsfolk to betray Goffe's location, developed into the legend of the Angel of Hadley, which came to be included in the historical manuscript ''History of Hadley'' by Sylvester Judd.Judd, Sylvester. ''History of Hadley Including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts.'' H.R. Huntting (1905), pp. 137–39. In 1683, eleven years before the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Not everyone wh ...

, Mary Webster, wife to William Webster son of the former governor of Connecticut and a founder of the very town of Hadley ( John Webster), was accused and acquitted of witchcraft. She was unsuccessfully hanged by rowdy town folk. A description is given in Cotton Mather's '' Magnalia Christi Americana''. The

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

general Joseph Hooker was a longtime resident of Hadley. Levi Stockbridge, one of the founders of the

Massachusetts Agricultural College The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the Flagship university, flagship campus of the Univer ...

(now the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

), was also from Hadley where he was a farmer.

Recent

Hadley's transformation from an old agricultural order to the new form is the direct result of expansion of the nearby

during the 1960s. Much of its former farmland was swallowed in the housing market stimulated by incoming faculty and off-campus students. Route 116 was redirected in an attempt to solve traffic congestion. Route 9, which runs east–west through the town to connect Amherst and

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, became a hotpoint for commercial development due to Amherst not wanting development on its land while large corporations opened stores along the strip. Today, the Hadley economy is a mixture of agriculture and commercial development, including big-box stores and the Hampshire Mall. In 2003, an organization called Hadley Neighbors for Sensible Development was formed that opposed continued large-scale commercial development in Hadley by emphasizing the downside of such growth. However, many local residents support commercial development, and about 1,000 people signed a petition asking for a new Wal-Mart, saying it would save them money on their groceries. In 2008, Wal-Mart pulled its plans to build the Supercenter after the Conservation Commission ruled that the plan did not comply with wetlands regulations. The developer of the site (Hampshire Mall) filed and lost numerous appeals but continued its legal challenges of the commission's findings. Many residents also opposed rezoning to accommodate a new Lowe's store because they said it would be too big and would require more filling of

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s than allowed by state law. However, the rezoning passed in 2004 and the store was built in 2009. Lowe's then sued the town because it didn't want to pay the required sewer hookup fees. And, in 2010, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection found that Lowe's had illegally filled large areas of wetlands on that site and fined the developer more than $15,000. The World Monuments Fund listed the "Cultural Landscape of Hadley, Massachusetts" on the 2010 World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites. The landscape of Hadley is largely open-field farming, which was only used in the earliest

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

settlements and had mostly disappeared by the 18th century; its survival in Hadley on such a large scale is unusual. According to the World Monument Fund are zoned for residential and commercial use, providing no long-term protection for the historic landscape.Cultural Landscape of Hadley, Massachusetts
World Monuments Fund.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 6.18%, is water. The land boundaries of Hadley are

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

to the north, Amherst to the east, and South Hadley to the south. Across the Connecticut River, Hadley borders Hatfield to the northwest,

to the west, and Easthampton and

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 ...

along a short length of river to the southwest. The Mount Holyoke Range forms the boundary with South Hadley and is where the highest point of Hadley is found. This is on Mount Hitchcock at an elevation of . The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail traverses the Holyoke Range with panoramic vistas from several locations.

Climate

In a typical year, Hadley, Massachusetts temperatures fall below for 205 days per year. Annual precipitation is typically 44.7 inches per year (high in the US) and snow covers the ground 66 days per year or 18.1% of the year (high in the US). It may be helpful to understand the yearly precipitation by imagining nine straight days of moderate rain per year. The humidity is below 60% for approximately 18.4 days, or 5% of the year.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 4,793 people, 1,895 households, and 1,248 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,953 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.91%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.75%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Native American, 1.56% Asian, 0.58% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.67% of the population. There were 1,895 households, out of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. Of all households, 24.7% were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.90. The population was spread out, with 20.0% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $51,851, and the median income for a family was $61,897. Males had a median income of $44,773 versus $34,189 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $24,945. About 4.8% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Hadley is home to Hadley Elementary School serving children in kindergarten through sixth grade, and Hopkins Academy, serving grades seven through twelve. Hopkins Academy was founded in 1664 through money that was donated by Edward Hopkins, a wealthy Connecticut merchant, and it is the fourth oldest public high school in the United States. Hadley is also home to the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School.

Government

Hadley is governed by open

Town Meeting Town meeting, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...

, a

Select Board The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three is the most common num ...

, and a Town Administrator.

Select Board

* Molly Keegan, Chair – Term Expires 2024 * Randall Izer, Clerk – Term Expires 2025 * Jane Nevinsmith, Member – Term Expires 2026 * Amy Parsons, Member – Term Expires 2027 * David J. Fill II, Member – Term Expires 2027 * Crystal Jackson, Chair of the CDEI- Term Expires 2028

Town Administrator

* Carolyn Brennan 2019 – September 2024 * Michael Mason (Police Chief/Acting Town Administrator) September 2024 – present

Economy

Hadley's economy can be in large part characterized by agriculture and retail services, having the thoroughfare Massachusetts Route 9 traversing it east to west with abundant stores, and a wide variety of farms which benefit from the area's Hadley loam. Due to its climate and soils, one of its staple crops for the last two centuries has consistently been its

asparagus Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description ...

, which has been described as competing in Boston markets despite local availability of the crop from other nearby regions, as well as in restaurants in France and Germany, and Queen Elizabeth II's own annual spring feast in England. Its ubiquity and reputation in Hadley agriculture has lent it the nickname "Hadley grass".

Points of interest

Interior view - Hadley Farm Museum - DSC07615

* Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum * Skinner State Park and Historic Summit House * Hopkins Academy (fourth oldest school in the United States; currently Hadley's public middle and high school) * Hadley Farm Museum * Hadley Town Common *

Regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

s monument commemorating the site where Rev. John Russell sheltered Edward Whalley and William Goffe in his home * Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium, the

football stadium * Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail (bike path which can be traveled from Northampton, MA to Belchertown, MA; the path runs through Hadley) *

(the longest river in New England) * Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (the only refuge of its kind to encompass an entire watershed). The Fort River Birding and Nature Trail, Fort River Division in Hadley, MA features a storybook trail along a 1.1 mile fully accessible loop that can be enjoyed by walkers, parents with strollers or people who use wheelchairs.

Notable people

* William Goffe, English parliamentarian and regicide * Lisa Green, Distinguished University Professor of Linguistics at the

* Thomas Hannum, band director at UMass Amherst with the Minuteman Marching Band. Percussion instructor and director with Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps. Member of the

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for drum and bugle corps. Founded in 1971 and known as "marching music's major league," DCI develops and enforces rules of competition and judges at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions t ...

Hall of Fame. * Sara Northrup Hollister, occultist * Joseph Hooker, Civil War general * Clifton Johnson, American writer, illustrator and photographer * Elizabeth Porter Phelps, early American diarist * Levi Stockbridge, Farmer and Scientist. Helped found Massachusetts Agricultural College (now known as the

) and served as first Professor of Agricultural at the school. Also served as Farm Superintendent and President * John Webster, governor of the Colony of Connecticut (1656–1657) * Mary Webster, accused of witchcraft, later survived an attempted lynching * Edward Whalley, English parliamentarian and regicide

References

External links

Town of Hadley Official website
{{Authority control 1661 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Massachusetts populated places on the Connecticut River Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts Towns in Hampshire County, Massachusetts Towns in Massachusetts