Pioneer Valley

The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial and promotional name for the portion of the Connecticut River Valley that is in Massachusetts in the United States. It is generally taken to comprise the three counties of Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin. The lower Pioneer Valley corresponds to the Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan area, the region's urban center, and the seat of Hampden County. The upper Pioneer Valley region includes the smaller cities of Northampton and Greenfield, the county seats of Hampshire and Franklin counties, respectively.

Historically the northern part of the Valley was an agricultural region, known for growing Connecticut shade tobacco and other specialty crops like Hadley asparagus; however, since the late 19th century its economy has become increasingly a knowledge economy, due to the prominence of the Five Colleges in Hampshire County. Similarly the Springfield- Chicopee-Holyoke economies transformed from volume producers of goods such as paper and armaments, into a combination of specialized manufacturing and distribution services for Boston and New York City.

Many of the cities and towns include areas of forests, and Springfield itself, which in the early twentieth century was nicknamed "The City in a Forest," features nature within its city limits and over 12% parkland. The Pioneer Valley is known for its scenery and as a vacation destination. The Holyoke Range, Mount Tom Range, and numerous rolling hills, bluffs, and meadows feature extravagant homes from the Gilded Age, many of which surround New England's longest and largest river, the Connecticut River, which flows through the region.

The name ''Pioneer Valley'' originates in the 20th century with travel writers using it in the 1920s and 1930s to designate the region. In 1939 the ''Pioneer Valley Association'' was formed to promote the region using that name.

Tourist destination

The Pioneer Valley is a popular, year-round tourist destination—a role that it has played historically, prior to its deindustrialization (from approximately 1970–2000). Travelers are drawn to the Pioneer Valley by its lively college towns, such as Northampton and Amherst; the resurgent city of Springfield; its unspoiled nature, numerous parks, and recreational facilities, including New England's largest and most popular amusement park, Six Flags New England in Agawam; its cultural and historical sites, such as the Emily Dickinson House in Amherst, the Springfield Armory National Historical Site, and the Basketball Hall of Fame on Springfield's riverfront. The region features alpine skiing at resorts such as Berkshire East and Blandford Ski Resort and seasonal festivals that draw millions of visitors, such as The Big E—all six New England states' collective, annual state fair in West Springfield—and Bright Nights at Springfield's Forest Park—an elaborate, high-tech lighting display during the holiday season.

Geology

The Pioneer Valley includes approximately half of the southern Connecticut River Valley—an ancient rift valley created by the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge during the Triassic and Jurassic periods of the Mesozoic Era. The Connecticut River has been flowing through the valley for millions of years and was naturally dammed to form glacial lake Hitchcock during the last ice age.

According to ''King's Handbook of Springfield'', by Moses King, the Pioneer Valley "is not an ordinary river channel; it is, in fact, a trough between two systems of mountains. To the west lie the worn-down remnants of the once lofty Berkshire Mountains; on the east, the yet more degraded ridges which constitute what we may call the Eastern Massachusetts set of mountain ridges. These rocks now form many sharp hills and mountains in the Valley. During the Triassic time, Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley formed a shallow arm of the sea," leaving deposits that enriched the Pioneer Valley's inordinately fertile soil.

Geologically interesting parts of the Valley are the basalt flows and dinosaur tracks in South Hadley and Holyoke, Massachusetts, a chain of basaltic traprock ridges known as Metacomet Ridge along the ancient tectonic rift including the Mount Holyoke and Mount Tom ranges, layers of rock deposit laid down by the river, and varves and deltas
deposited by Lake Hitchcock during the Pleistocene.

Political geography

The region known as the Pioneer Valley constitutes Massachusetts's portion of the fertile Connecticut River Valley and the hill and mountain towns to its east and west. The following three counties—from north to south, and each with a different character—encompass the Pioneer Valley:

Franklin County

Franklin County is the most rural county in Massachusetts and thus reminiscent of southern Vermont, which it borders. Greenfield is its largest municipality, a small city frequently used as a gateway to the region's many outdoor pursuits. The county offers downhill skiing at resorts such as Berkshire East, white-water rafting, zip-lining, hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor pursuits. In addition, Franklin County contains many rustic, former mill towns. Many of these have become quaint and scenic since the decline of the mills (e.g., Turners Falls). Massachusetts's Routes 2 and 2A, which run through Franklin County, feature many antique stores.

Hampshire County

Hampshire County is the home to five prominent colleges and universities that cooperate with each other and are known collectively as the Five Colleges. They are UMass Amherst, Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Hampshire. Each of these highly regarded liberal arts colleges and universities contribute to Hampshire County's college town atmosphere, particularly in the significant college towns of Northampton and Amherst. Much of Hampshire County's cultural activity, vibrant nightlife, and musical venues are concentrated in these two small but lively municipalities that are separated by a mere seven miles. While the college towns in Hampshire County are known for their liberal political values and their embrace of alternative cultures and lifestyles, many of the county's outlying towns preserve their traditional, bucolic characters. In terms of political demographics, Hampshire County is one of the most liberal areas in the United States in both voter registration and election returns.

Hampden County

Hampden County is the most highly urbanized county in Western Massachusetts; however, its environs have long been described as ''rus in urbe''—cities amidst forests. Springfield, Massachusetts—the "shire town" for which Hampden County was initially carved out of Hampshire County in 1814—is located in southern Hampden County, at a natural crossroads where three significant rivers flow into Connecticut River (the Westfield, the Chicopee, and the Mill). Springfield's history is long, illustrious, and well-chronicled. It was one of the United States' most important precision manufacturing and defense centers until its relatively recent deindustrialization, which was catalyzed by the government's controversial closure of the Springfield Armory during the Vietnam War. (In 1777, General George Washington and Henry Knox personally selected that site for the United States' Federal Arsenal.) After nearly 30 years of decline, Springfield has since about 2006 experienced a cultural and economic resurgence, catalyzed by billions of dollars in private and public investment, including the funded construction of the United States' first high-speed bullet-train, known as the Knowledge Corridor intercity rail line as well as a sharp decreases in crime and new festivals that have renewed the city's traditionally robust civic pride. Springfield itself features international tourist attractions like the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield Armory National Historic Site; it also features the Dr. Seuss Memorial, Augustus Saint Gaudens's outdoor masterpiece, '' The Puritan'', and five world-class art, science, and history museums at the Quadrangle. Forest Park, a city park of designed following the principles of Frederick Law Olmsted, who is most famous for designing New York City's Central Park, is comparably diverse and ornate. The city's economic base is also diverse, featuring Massachusetts's wealthiest Fortune 100 company, MassMutual Insurance, as well as numerous universities and hospitals. Springfield features thousands of Victorian era Painted Lady mansions (like San Francisco's), e.g., in the McKnight Historic District. In addition to the Connecticut River, Springfield features Watershops Pond, Porter Lake, and the Mill River.

Less than two miles south of Springfield, Six Flags New England amusement park is located in suburban Agawam; and one mile west of Springfield, The Big E—the collective state fairgrounds of all six New England States—is located in West Springfield. North of Springfield, the U.S. Westover Air Force Base is located in the resurgent, former industrial city of Chicopee. The City of Chicopee features the confluence of the fast-moving Chicopee River and the meandering Connecticut River. The Chicopee River, although only 18.0 miles long, has the largest water basin in Massachusetts—and along the Connecticut River—at 741 square miles. Across from Chicopee, on the west side of the Connecticut River, the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside is one of the largest malls in New England. In addition to the mall, Holyoke is home to the Mount Tom Range of mountains, the Holyoke Canal System, and the Volleyball Hall of Fame. (The sport of volleyball was invented in Holyoke in 1895.)

The city of Westfield features Westfield State University, founded by renowned education reformer Horace Mann. Near to Westfield—approximately 15 miles west of Springfield—numerous outdoor opportunities are available, such as alpine skiing at Blandford Ski Area and the United States's oldest white-water rafting races on the 78.1 mile Westfield River, the longest Connecticut River tributary in Massachusetts.

The international airport that serves Hampden County, and the Pioneer Valley in general, is Bradley International Airport, which is located 12 miles south of Springfield in the town of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, land that formerly belonged to Springfield.

Demographics

Ethnicity

Currently, the Pioneer Valley's ethnic and racial diversity varies greatly from city to town. Predominantly British until the 19th Century, and then European-American in the late 19th and 20th centuries, as of the 2010 Census, the region features a rapidly growing Hispanic population in nearly all urban areas. This influx includes large numbers of Puerto Ricans. Among the European-American community, the Pioneer Valley's population reflects the British Isles background of its original settlers and the immigrant populations that settled it during the late-19th century, including large numbers of residents with Irish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, French Canadian, and Greek backgrounds. As of 2011, Springfield is home to a particularly large number of Vietnamese immigrants. Also, as of 2011, Russian and Ukrainian immigrants are increasing in Springfield, West Springfield, Westfield, and other communities.

Large LGBT population

According to the 2010 Census, the Pioneer Valley features one of the highest per capita lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations in the United States. Indeed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 Census statistics, Springfield was ranked one of the Top 10 gay cities in the United States. The 2010 Census figures indicate the number of same-sex households per thousand. Springfield ranked No. 10, with 5.69 same-sex couples per thousand. In January 2010, the national LGBT magazine '' The Advocate'' rated Springfield No. 13 among its new "15 Gayest Secondary Cities in America," ahead of San Diego, California and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Springfield was the only Massachusetts city included on ''The Advocate''s list.

The cities of Northampton and Springfield, in particular, feature vibrant LGBT communities. Unlike in other communities across the United States, LGBT residents have largely integrated into Northampton and Springfield, i.e. neither city features a gay ghetto. Generally, in the Pioneer Valley, LGBT people and straight people co-mingle in various bars, nightclubs, and cultural institutions. Still, both cities feature a robust and active LGBT nightlife – especially Northampton for lesbians, and Springfield for gay men. The college towns of Amherst and South Hadley also feature significant LGBT populations.

Higher education institutions

Five College Consortium

* Amherst College: Amherst
* Hampshire College: Amherst
* Mount Holyoke College: South Hadley
* Smith College: Northampton
* University of Massachusetts Amherst: Amherst

Metro Springfield Universities

* American International College: Springfield
* Bay Path University: Longmeadow
* Cambridge College: Springfield
* Elms College: Chicopee
* Springfield College: Springfield
* Western New England University: Springfield
* Westfield State University: Westfield

Graduate schools

* Conway School of Landscape Design: Conway and Easthampton
* Mount Holyoke College, Professional and Graduate Education: South Hadley
* Smith College School for Social Work: Northampton

Community colleges

* Greenfield Community College: Greenfield
* Holyoke Community College: Holyoke
* Springfield Technical Community College: Springfield

History

Native American history in the Pioneer Valley stretches back thousands of years; its recorded history begins in 1635, when Roxbury magistrate William Pynchon commissioned land scouts John Cable and John Woodcock to look for the Connecticut River Valley's best site for both conducting trade and farming. The first 16 years of the history of the European settlement of the Pioneer Valley, before 1652, when Northampton, Massachusetts was established, are coterminous with the history of Springfield, Massachusetts, as it was Pioneer Valley's only settlement. From 1633 to 1635, there had been three English settlements in the Connecticut River Valley: Wethersfield, Connecticut; Windsor, Connecticut; and the best situated of the three (because of its two rivers), Hartford, Connecticut. Cable and Woodcock continued northward until they came upon a spot that they agreed was the best situated of them all: modern-day Springfield, Massachusetts.

Springfield sits at a natural crossroads, at the confluence of four rivers: to the west, the 78.1 mile Westfield River, (the Connecticut River's longest tributary river in Massachusetts); in the middle, the 418.0 mile Connecticut River, then known as "The Great River"; and to the east two smaller rivers: the 18.0 mile Chicopee River, which featured the fast moving and the Connecticut River's largest water basin; and also, the Mill River, which would become very important approximately 150 years later after George Washington's foundation of the U.S. Armory at Springfield.

First settlement

At that time, on the western bank of the Connecticut River, the explorers found the Pocomtuc (or perhaps Nipmuck) Indian village of Agawam. Just south of the Westfield River, the colonists constructed a pre-fabricated house in what is present-day Agawam, Massachusetts.

In 1636, Pynchon led a settlement expedition with a larger group, including Henry Smith (Pynchon's son-in-law), Jehu Burr, William Blake, Matthew Mitchell, Edmund Wood, Thomas Ufford, and John Cable. Springfield was Massachusetts' first settlement for non-religious reasons, although many of its settlers were very religious, as indicated by their first article of incorporation, "Wee intend by God's grace, as soon as we can, with all convenient speede to procure some Godly and faithfull minister we purpose to joyne in church covenant, to walk in all the ways of Christ" In scouting Springfield, Cable, Woodcock, and Pynchon selected a spot just north of Enfield Falls, the first spot on the Connecticut River where all travelers must stop to negotiate a waterfall, in height, and then transship their cargoes from ocean-going vessels to smaller shallops. Pynchon's party purchased land on both sides of Connecticut River from 18 tribesman who lived at a palisade fort at the current site of Springfield's Longhill Street. The price paid was 18 hoes, 18 fathoms of wampum, 18 coats, 18 hatchets and 18 knives.http://www.chronos-historical.org/highway/maps/map07.jpg Originally, in 1636, the English settlement was named Agawam Plantation. By founding "Agawam" in its particular location, Pynchon essentially forced all northerly river trade to move through his town.

After warnings from the Natives about the Connecticut River's west side being prone to flooding, most Springfield settlers moved to the east side of the river, which was slightly less advantageous for farming because of its prominent bluffs and hills. The initial land grants to English families were made there in what is today Springfield's Metro Center, along what is today Main Street. Long, narrow plots of farmland were created, extending outward from the river. In addition, more distant forested "wood lots" were offered. The original, main profit-generating industry for Springfield was trade with the Indians for beaver skins, which were then exported around the colonial world.Swift, p. 16.

Choosing Massachusetts

In 1640 and 1641, two events took place that forever changed the political boundaries of the Connecticut River Valley. From its founding until that time, Springfield had been administered by Connecticut, along with Connecticut's three other settlements—at Wethersfield, Hartford, and Windsor. In the spring of 1640, grain was very scarce; cattle were dying of starvation. The nearby Connecticut Colony settlements gave power to William Pynchon to buy corn for all four English settlements, (Springfield's natives were, by far, the most congenial to the English.) If the Natives would not sell their corn at market prices, then Pynchon was authorized to offer more money. The Natives refused to sell their corn at market prices, and then later refused to sell it at "reasonable" prices. Pynchon refused to buy it, believing it best not to broadcast the English colonists' weaknesses, and also wanting to keep market values steady.

Leading citizens of (what would become) Hartford were furious with Pynchon for not purchasing any grain. With Windsor's and Wethersfield's consent, the three southerly settlements commissioned the famed Native American-conqueror Captain John Mason to travel to Springfield with "money in one hand and a sword in the other." On reaching (what would become) Springfield, Mason intimidated the local Natives with war if they did not sell their corn at a "reasonable price." The Natives capitulated and ultimately sold the colonists corn. Pynchon, an avowed "man of peace," believed in negotiation with the Natives (and thus, quickly made a fortune), whereas Mason—a hero of the Pequot Wars and conqueror of Connecticut—believed in subduing Natives by force if necessary. This philosophical difference led to Mason using "hard words" against Pynchon. Pynchon's settlement, however, agreed with him, and his philosophy, and that same year, voted to separate from the Connecticut Colony and be annexed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When the dust finally settled, William Pynchon was named magistrate of Agawam by the Massachusetts Bay Colony and, in honor of him, the settlement was renamed Springfield after the village of Springfield near Chelmsford, Essex in England, where Pynchon was born and raised. For decades, Springfield—which, at the time, included modern-day Westfield—was the westernmost settlement in Massachusetts.

Witchcraft and the New World's first banned book

In 1645, 46 years before the Salem witch trials, Springfield experienced America's first accusations of witchcraft when Mary Parsons accused a widow named Marshfield, who had moved from Windsor to Springfield, with witchcraft—an offense then punishable by death. For this, Mary Parsons was found guilty of slander. In 1651, Mary Parsons was accused of witchcraft—specifically "divers devilish practices by witchcraft, to the hurt of Martha and Rebeckah Moxon," two daughters of Springfield's first minister—and also of murdering her own child. In turn, Mary Parsons then accused her own husband, Hugh Parsons, of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial, both Mary and Hugh Parsons were found not guilty of witchcraft for want of satisfactory evidence; however, Mary was found guilty of murdering her own child. For this, she was sentenced to death, but died in prison in 1651, before receiving her death sentence.

In 1650, William Pynchon became infamous for writing the New World's first banned book. In 1649, Pynchon found time to write a book, ''The Meritous Price of Our Redemption'', a theological study that was published in London in 1650. Several copies made it back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and its capital, Boston, which, this time reacted with rage to Pynchon rather than with support. For his critical attitude toward Massachusetts' Calvinist Puritanism, Pynchon was accused of heresy, and his book was burned on the Boston Common. Only four copies survived. By declaration of the Massachusetts General Court, in 1650, ''The Meritous Price of Our Redemption'' became the first-ever banned book in the New World. In 1651, Pynchon was accused of heresy by the Massachusetts General Court (at the same meeting of the Court where Springfielder Mary Parsons was sentenced to death in America's first witch trial). Thus he is the first author to have his work "banned in Boston". Standing to lose all of his land-holdings—the largest in the Connecticut River Valley—William Pynchon transferred ownership to his son, John, and then, in 1652, moved back to England with his friend, the Reverend Moxon.

William's son, John Pynchon, and his brother-in-law, Elizur Holyoke, quickly took on the settlement's leadership roles. They began moving Springfield away from the diminishing fur trade into agricultural pursuits, and also founded several new towns, including Northampton, Massachusetts.

Northampton

Early settlement

The area now called Northampton was once known as Norwottuck, or Nonotuck, meaning "the midst of the river" by its original Pocumtuc inhabitants. According to various accounts, Northampton was named by John King (1629–1703), one of its original settlers, or possibly in his honor, since it is supposed that he came to Massachusetts from Northampton, England.

The Pocumtuc confederacy occupied the Connecticut River Valley, from what is now southern Vermont and New Hampshire into northern Connecticut. The Pocumtuc tribes were Algonquian, and traditionally allied with the Mahican confederacy to the west. By 1606, an ongoing struggle between the Mahican and Iroquois confederacies led to direct attacks on the Pocumtuc by the Iroquoian Mohawk nation. The Mahican confederacy had been defeated by 1628, limiting Pocumtuc access to trade routes to the west. The area suffered a major smallpox epidemic in the 1630s, following the arrival of Dutch traders in the Hudson Valley and English settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the previous two decades. It was in this context that the land making up the bulk of modern Northampton was sold to settlers from Springfield, Massachusetts in 1653, and settled the following year.Trumbull, James Russell. ''History of Northampton, Massachusetts, From Its Settlement in 1654''. Northampton (1898), pp. 5–12. The situation in the region further deteriorated when the Mohawk escalated hostilities against the Pocumtuc confederacy and other Algonquian tribes after 1655, forcing many of the plague-devastated Algonquian groups into defensive mergers. This coincided with a souring of relations between the Wampanoag and the Massachusetts Bay colonists, eventually leading to the expanded Algonquian alliance which took part in King Philip's War.

The partition of Northampton

Northampton's territory would be enlarged beyond the original settlement, but later portions would be carved up into separate cities, towns, and municipalities. Southampton, for example, was incorporated in 1775, and included parts of the territories of modern Montgomery (which was itself incorporated in 1780) and Easthampton. Westhampton was incorporated in 1778, and Easthampton in 1809. Formerly, a section of Northampton called Smith's Ferry was separated from the rest of the town by the boundaries of Easthampton. The shortest path to downtown was on a road near the Connecticut River oxbow, which was subject to frequent flooding. Smith's Ferry was ceded to Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1909.

Deerfield

Deerfield was the northwesternmost outpost of New England settlement for several decades during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It occupies a fertile portion of the Connecticut River Valley and was vulnerable to attack because of its position near the Berkshire Mountains. For these reasons it became the site of several Anglo-French and Indian skirmishes during its early history, as well as intertribal warfare.

At the time of the English colonists' arrival, the Deerfield area was inhabited by the Algonquian-speaking Pocumtuck nation, with a major village by the same name. First settled by English colonists in 1673, Deerfield was incorporated in 1677. Settlement was the result of a court case in which the government in Boston agreed to return some of the land of the town of Dedham to Native American control, and allowed some of Dedham's residents to acquire land in the new township of Pocumtuck. To obtain this land, their agent John Plympton signed a treaty with some Pocumtuck men, including one named Chaulk. He had no authority to deed the land to the colonists, and appeared to have only a rough idea of what he was signing. Native Americans and English had quite differing ideas about property and land use, which contributed to their conflicts, along with competition for resources.

The settlers expelled the Pocumtuck tribe by force, who in turn sought French protection from colonists in Canada. At the Battle of Bloody Brook on September 18, 1675, the dispossessed Indians destroyed a small force under the command of Captain Thomas Lathrop before being driven off by reinforcements. Colonial casualties numbered about sixty. In retaliation, at dawn on May 19, 1676, Captain William Turner led an army of settlers in a surprise attack on Peskeompskut, in present-day Montague, then a traditional native gathering place. They killed 200 natives, mostly women and children. When the men of the tribe returned, they routed Turner, who died of a mortal wound at Green River.

On February 29, 1704, during Queen Anne's War, joint French and Indian forces attacked the town in what has become known as the 1704 Raid on Deerfield. Under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville were 47 Canadiens and 200 Abenaki, Kanienkehaka and Wyandot, as well as a few Pocumtuck. They struck at dawn, razing Deerfield and killing 56 colonists, including 22 men, 9 women, and 25 children. They took as captives 109 survivors, including women and children, and "carried" them away on a months-long trek to Quebec. Many died along the way or were killed when they could not keep up.

Deerfield and other communities collected funds to ransom the captives, and negotiations were conducted between colonial governments. When New England released the French pirate, Canada arranged redemption of numerous Deerfield people, among them the minister John Williams. He wrote a captivity narrative about his experience, which was published in 1707 and became well known. Because of losses to war and disease, the Mohawk and other tribes often adopted younger captives into their tribes. Such was the case with Williams' daughter Eunice, eight years old when captured. She became thoroughly assimilated, at age 16 marrying a Mohawk man. Most of the Deerfield captives eventually returned to New England. During this period, other captives remained by choice in French and Native communities such as Kahnawake for the rest of their lives.

As the frontier moved north, Deerfield became another colonial town with an unquiet early history. In 1753 Greenfield was set off and incorporated. During the early nineteenth century, Deerfield's role in agricultural production of the Northeast declined. It was overtaken by the rapid development of the Midwestern United States into the nation's breadbasket, with transportation to eastern markets and New York City enhanced by construction of the Erie Canal.

During the Colonial Revival Movement of the late nineteenth century, Deerfield citizens rediscovered the town's past. Residents founded the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in 1870, and erected monuments to commemorate various events, including the Bloody Brook and 1704 attacks. In 1890, Charlotte Alice Baker returned to Deerfield to restore her family home, the Frary House. Assisted by the Boston architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, her project was one of the first in historic preservation in western Massachusetts. Today, tourism is the town's principal industry. Historic Deerfield, a National Historic Landmark district with eleven house museums and a regional museum and visitors' center, and the Yankee Candle Company are major attractions.

An account of the town's early history was written by local historian George Sheldon and published in the late nineteenth century. By this time, South Deerfield and other New England villages were already absorbing a new wave of Eastern European immigration, particularly from Poland. The new people influenced Deerfield's demographics and culture. They were mostly Catholic peasants, who built their own churches and first worked as laborers, forming a community later known as Old Polonia. Later twentieth-century immigrants from Poland tended to be more educated, but settled in the larger cities. Immigrants in smaller communities followed different paths, and their descendants often moved to cities for more opportunities.

Greenfield

Pocumtuck Indians first settled and originally inhabited the Greenfield area. Native American artifacts found in the area have been dated as originating between 7,000 and 9,000 years BC. The Pocumtucks planted field crops and fished the rivers, but were wiped out as a tribe by the Mohawks in 1664. Thereafter, the newly unoccupied area - being the eastern terminus of the Mohawk Trail, a principal route for Native American trade traveling west into New York - was colonized by the English in 1686 as part of Deerfield. In 1753, Greenfield was set off from Deerfield and incorporated as a separate town, named for the Green River.

In 1795, the South Hadley Canal opened, allowing boats to bypass the South Hadley falls and reach Greenfield via the Connecticut River. Located at the confluence of the Deerfield and Green rivers, and not far from where they merge into the Connecticut River, Greenfield developed into a trade center. It was designated county seat when Franklin County was created from Hampshire County in 1811. Falls provided water power for industry, and Greenfield grew into a prosperous mill town.

Culture

Hampshire County

Residents benefit from a rich cultural array of fine arts, performances, notable architecture and sidewalks of strolling scientists and literary VIPs – mostly in the college towns and in Springfield. According to the 2010 Census, per capita, Northampton has the highest concentration of lesbians in the United States, and perhaps the world. Hampshire County is certainly the "Valley full o' Pioneer ... in the sleepy west of the woody east", of which the Pixies sang in the song "U-Mass".

Springfield

Springfield's cultural contributions to the United States and world at large have been so numerous that here, only brief descriptions of very important national and international cultural milestones will be mentioned.

As of 2011, Springfield's most famous cultural contribution worldwide is basketball, currently the world's 2nd most popular sport. That said, the "City of Progress" produced three other innovations, not nearly as well publicized, but which have proven to have proven to be just as significant, if not more so, to the world at large. In 1892–93, the first, functional, American gasoline-powered car was produced at the Stacy Building in Springfield by the Duryea Brothers. The Duryea's car also won the world's first automobile race in 1895 in Chicago. In 1901, the first motorcycle company in the world was "Indian", produced in Springfield; in 1905, the first modern fire engines in the world were produced by Knox Automobile (which made Springfield's fire department the first modern fire department in the world;), and the first commercial radio station in the U.S., WBZ, was broadcast from Springfield in 1921.

Of national importance, Springfield featured the United States' first witch trial in 1646—decades before the Salem Witch Trials; and a few years later in 1650, a Springfielder wrote the New World's first banned book, ''The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption'' by William Pynchon. Pynchon was the founder of the city of Springfield. His book, expressing views contrary to Puritan Calvinist doctrine, caused him to be brought before the high court in Boston and accused of heresy. He later to return to England.

In Springfield, in 1860, Milton Bradley invented and produced his popular parlor games, including the still popular ''The Game of Life''. Also in Springfield, Dr. Seuss

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