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Rowe is a
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...
in Franklin County,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, United States. The population was 424 at the 2020 census.


History

Rowe was the site of fishing and foraging for local Native American tribes. The area was first visited by white settlers in 1744, and was the site of a fort to guard against raids. In 1762, the town lands were purchased by the Rev. Cornelius Jones, who named it "Myrifield" after the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
word for "thousand". The town had enough settlers by 1785 to have it incorporated as a town, renamed by the
Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
after John Rowe, a prominent Boston merchant. The town of Rowe grew around mills on the river, but also had other industries, including
sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...
,
talc Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening agent ...
and
soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...
mining. This was nowhere more evident than in the now abandoned settlement at the Davis Mine. In the late 1880s, with the addition of the railroad along the river, the area had become somewhat of a small resort town. But, by the advent of the 1900s, most industry had begun to dry up, leaving the town fairly rural until the 1950s. At that point, with the "baby boom" underway, Rowe became the site of Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station, the first nuclear power plant in New England, near the Sherman Dam along the Vermont border. The plant was in operation from 1960 to 1992, and the plant is now completely decommissioned, with the nuclear waste planned to be transported to Yucca Mountain's containment facilities, or another facility in the event that Yucca Mountain remains closed as a result of
Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...
's lobbying to keep the planned nuclear waste repository closed permanently.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.41%, is water. Rowe lies along the northern border of Franklin County and Massachusetts, bordered by Windham County,
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...
, to the north and
Berkshire County Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded i ...
to the west. The town is bordered by
Whitingham, Vermont Whitingham is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Nathan Whiting, a landholder. The population was 1,344 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Whitingham is t ...
, to the north,
Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
to the east, Charlemont to the south, and
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
and Monroe to the west. Rowe is located west-northwest of
Greenfield Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Engineering and Business * Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation * Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist * Greenf ...
, north-northwest of Springfield, and west-northwest of
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
. Rowe lies along the eastern bank of the Deerfield River, which is dammed near the Vermont border to form the Sherman Reservoir. The town has two other large bodies of water, the Upper Bear Swamp Reservoir and Pelham Lake, which feeds Pelham Brook, a tributary of the river. The town is hilly, with two main ridges on either side of Pelham Brook. Near the southwest corner of town is Negus Mountain, along the western ridge, and along the eastern ridge lies Todd Mountain and Adams Mountain, the highest point in town. Much of the land southeast of Pelham Lake is part of Pelham Lake Park, which extends to the mountains. There are also two small units of Monroe State Forest in town. Rowe is one of a handful of small towns in Massachusetts which has no state highways. (Nearly half of these towns are on
Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes th ...
and Nantucket, with the majority of the rest in central and western Massachusetts.) The nearest state highways are
Massachusetts Route 8A Route 8A refers to two separate north–south state highways in western Massachusetts. Both sections are marked as "Route 8A" on guide signs and reassurance markers. In official documentation, MassHighway denotes one highway as 8A-U, and ...
, which runs through neighboring Heath, and
Route 2 The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads. International * AH2, As ...
(the Mohawk Trail), which runs through Charlemont and Florida. The nearest expressway,
Interstate 91 Interstate 91 (I-91) is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of the region. The Interstate generally follows the course of the Connect ...
, passes through the center of the county, near the junction of the Deerfield River and the Connecticut River. A short section of railroad tracks leading westward to the
Hoosac Tunnel The Hoosac Tunnel (also called Hoosic or Hoosick Tunnel) is a active railroad tunnel in western Massachusetts that passes through the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont's Green Mountains. It runs in a straight line from its east portal, alo ...
passes through the southwest corner of town, but the town is otherwise not served by rail, bus or air service. The nearest bus and small air service is in North Adams, the nearest
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
service is in Pittsfield, and the nearest national air service can be reached at Albany International Airport in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
.


Neighborhoods

The following are locally known neighborhood/village areas within the Rowe town borders: * Camp Rowe *
Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Green ...
* Monroe Bridge * Rowe *
Zoar Zoar may refer to: * Zoara, a city mentioned in Genesis as part of the Biblical Pentapolis Places ;Canada * Zoar, Newfoundland and Labrador ;England * Zoar, Cornwall ;South Africa * Zoar, Western Cape ;United States * Zoar, Delaware * Zoar, Ind ...


Demographics

At the 2000
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
, there were 351 people, 154 households and 105 families residing in the town. By population, Rowe ranks 24th out of the 26 cities and towns in Franklin County, and 344th out of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 14.9 per square mile (5.8/km), which ranks 24th in the county and 345th in the Commonwealth. There were 209 housing units at an average density of 8.9 per square mile (3.4/km). The racial makeup of the town was 99.72%
White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
, 0.28% from other races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 1.14% of the population. There were 154 households, of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. Of all households 26.0% were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.75. Of the population 19.7% were under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 21.1% from 25 to 44, 36.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males. The
median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...
was $41,944 and the median family income was $53,750. Males had a median income of $32,143 compared with $28,438 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the town was $28,134. None of the families and 2.8% of the population were living 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 no under-eighteens and 3.1% of those over 64.


Government

Rowe employs the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a board of selectmen. The town has a police station, which also patrols neighboring Monroe, as well as a fire station, a library connected to the regional library network, and a post office, all of which are located near the Town Hall at the center of town. The nearest hospital, North Adams Regional Hospital, is located in North Adams. On the state level, Rowe is represented in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...
as part of the Second Berkshire district, represented by Paul Mark, which covers central Berkshire County, as well as portions of Hampshire and Franklin Counties. In the
Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...
, the town is part of the Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin district, represented by Ben Downing, which includes all of Berkshire County and the western portions of Hampshire and Franklin Counties. The town is patrolled by the Second (Shelburne Falls) Station of Troop "B" of the
Massachusetts State Police The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state. As of 10/4/2022, i ...
.Station B-2, SP Shelburne Falls
/ref> On the national level, Rowe is represented in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...
as part of Massachusetts's 1st congressional district, and has been represented by
Richard Neal Richard Edmund Neal (born February 14, 1949) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1989. The district, numbered as the 2nd district from 1989 to 2013, includes Springfield, West Springfield, Pittsfield, ...
of Springfield since January 2013. Massachusetts is represented in the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...
by senior Senator
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a p ...
and junior Senator
Ed Markey Edward John Markey (born July 11, 1946) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Army reservist who has served as the junior United States senator from Massachusetts since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representa ...


Education

Rowe's school system is a sub-system in the nine-town Mohawk Trail Regional School District, which serves much of western Franklin County. Town students attend the Rowe Elementary School from pre-kindergarten through sixth grades, and all students in the district attend Mohawk Trail Regional High School in Buckland. There is a private academy in neighboring Charlemont, and other private and religious schools in nearby North Adams. The nearest community college, Greenfield Community College, is located in Greenfield. The nearest state college is Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, and the nearest state university is the
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
. The nearest private college is
Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...
in Williamstown, with several others located southeast in the Northampton/Amherst area.


Points of interest

The Rowe Center is a
Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...
organization that began in 1924. It offers a variety of
summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer summer vacation, months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part ...
options for youth, as well as adult workshops and
spiritual retreat The meaning of a spiritual retreat can be different for different religious communities. Spiritual retreats are an integral part of many Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Sufi communities. In Hinduism and Buddhism, meditative retreats are ...
s.Rowe Camp and Conference Center
/ref> The summer camp was founded by Reverend Anita Pickett in 1924 for young people. The Rowe Historical Society, located at 282 Zoar Road, operates the Kemp-McCarthy Museum. Information on the museum, its collections and the calendar of special events is available at www.rowehistoricalsociety.org. The former mining village, and current
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
, of
Davis, Massachusetts Davis, Massachusetts is the abandoned location of the Davis Pyrite Mine, located in the town of Rowe, Massachusetts. Once the largest iron pyrite mine in Massachusetts, Davis grew to be a decent sized mining village at the beginnings of the Second ...
, is located in the eastern part of town, near Pelham Lake.


References


External links


Town of Rowe official website



''History of Rowe, Massachusetts'', by Percy Whiting Brown (1921)
{{authority control Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts Towns in Franklin County, Massachusetts Towns in Massachusetts 1785 establishments in Massachusetts