Holyoke

History

The Indigenous people of Holyoke and South Hadley Falls were the Algonquian peoples. Though records are incomplete, the area was settled by the Pocomtuc, sometimes referred to as the Agawam or Nonotuck. English colonists arrived in the Connecticut River Valley in 1633, when traders from the Plymouth Plantation established a post at Windsor, Connecticut. In 1636, Massachusetts Bay Colony assistant treasurer and Puritan iconoclast William Pynchon led a group of settlers from Roxbury, Massachusetts to the Valley to establish Springfield on land scouts had found to be advantageous for farming and trading. The settlement was built north of the Connecticut River's first major falls, Enfield Falls, where seagoing vessels had to transfer cargo into smaller shallops to continue northward on the river. Its proximity to the banks of the river made Springfield quickly become a successful settlement on the Bay Path to Boston, as well as the Massachusetts Path to Albany. Originally, the settlement spanned both sides of the river but was partitioned in 1774 with the land on the western bank becoming West Springfield, Massachusetts. The area, previously allotted to landowners on the east side of the river in Springfield, was settled by colonists by 1655 and included what is now Holyoke. Though the name Hampden was considered, the area was subsequently named for earlier Springfield settler William Pynchon's son-in-law, Elizur Holyoke, who had first explored the area in the 1650s. Following land acquisitions and development by the Hadley Falls Company, the town of Holyoke was officially incorporated on March 14, 1850. Holyoke had few inhabitants until the construction of the dam and the Holyoke Canal System in 1849 and the subsequent construction of water-powered mills, particularly…

Geography

: Holyoke is located at (42.203191, −72.623969). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (6.70%) is water. The city is bordered by Southampton and Westfield to the west, Easthampton to the north, Hadley, South Hadley and Chicopee as river borders to the east, and West Springfield to the south. Holyoke is the location of East Mountain, the Mount Tom Range, and Mount Tom, at the highest traprock peak on the Metacomet Ridge, a linear mountain range that extends from Long Island Sound to the Vermont border. The most densely populated area, lying between the Mount Tom Range and the Connecticut River, is characterized by a series of terraces separated by wooded ravines, known as dingles, which drain to the river. Mount Tom is characterized by its high cliffs, sweeping vistas, and microclimate ecosystems. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail traverses the Mount Tom Range and East Mountain. Fossilized dinosaur tracks and specimens can be found at the foot of the mountains because of their unique geology. A species of dinosaur, Podokesaurus holyokensis, whose fossils were first discovered across the river in South Hadley, was given its name for the area, and the city has in recent years passed measures to try to protect fossils in parks from theft or vandalism. The city of Holyoke contains 15 distinct neighborhoods. Some, like Springdale and Oakdale, were conceived by individual developers as streetcar suburbs for mill workers in the 19th century, whereas others like Rock Valley and Elmwood were villages within West Springfield that predate the city. Additionally a number of names such as Ewingville and Elmwood Heights have been used historically but have become defunct as separate entities. In alphabetical order,…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  48,238
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  43,633
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  42,691
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  40,067
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  38,984
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  37,302
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  36,241
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  34,348

Largest nearby schools

• Springfield Central High
  High · Springfield · 2,095 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Holyoke High
  High · Holyoke · 1,515 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy
  High · Springfield · 1,360 students · 11.1:1 ratio
• Chicopee Comprehensive High School
  High · Chicopee · 1,206 students · 11.4:1 ratio
• West Springfield High
  High · West Springfield · 1,186 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• High School Of Commerce
  High · Springfield · 1,103 students · 7.9:1 ratio
• Springfield High School of Science and Technology
  High · Springfield · 1,087 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• Agawam High
  High · Agawam · 1,052 students · 11.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2015-01-13
  2 km E of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 3.3 — 2015-01-12
  0 km NE of Wauregan, Connecticut
• M 2.66 — 2014-08-14
  6 km SW of Deep River Center, Connecticut
• M 2.5 — 2002-06-07
  3 km NNW of Hopedale, Massachusetts