Northampton

History

] Northampton was known as "Norwottuck", or "Nonotuck", meaning "the midst of the river", named by its original Pocumtuc inhabitants. According to various accounts, Northampton was given its present name by John A. King (1629–1703), one of the first white settlers in Northampton, or possibly in King's honor, since it is supposed that he came to Massachusetts from Northampton, England, his birthplace. 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 New England 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 in 1653. The situation in the region further deteriorated when the Mohawk people escalated hostilities against the Pocumtuc confederacy and other Algonquian tribes after 1655, forcing many of the plague-devastated Algonquian groups into defensive mergers. Its territory was 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 (incorporated in 1780) and Easthampton. Westhampton was…

Geography

Northampton sits on the west side of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. It is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.22%, are water. A total of 21% of the city is permanently protected open space. Within Northampton's city limits are the villages of Florence and Leeds. Northampton is bordered to the north by the towns of Hatfield and Williamsburg, to the west by Westhampton, to the east by Hadley (across the Connecticut River), and to the south by Easthampton. The art deco Calvin Coolidge Bridge connects Northampton with Hadley across the Connecticut River. The college town of Amherst is located east of Northampton, next to Hadley. Springfield, the Connecticut River Valley's most populous Massachusetts city, is located southeast of Northampton. Boston is by highway east of Northampton. New York City is southwest of Northampton. The Connecticut River's Oxbow is within Northampton's city limits, at the northern base of Mount Nonotuck.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  54,350
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  49,387
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  47,866
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  45,575
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  43,215
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  42,048
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  41,899
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  39,645

Largest nearby schools

• Northampton High
  High · Northampton · 903 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• Amherst Regional High
  High · Amherst · 858 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• Hampshire Regional High
  High · Westhampton · 662 students · 8.9:1 ratio
• John F Kennedy Middle School
  Middle · Florence · 583 students · 9.7:1 ratio
• Smith Vocational and Agricultural High
  High · Northampton · 566 students · 9.4:1 ratio
• Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School
  Other · Hadley · 549 students · 8.7:1 ratio
• Michael E. Smith Middle School
  Middle · South Hadley · 526 students · 12.8:1 ratio
• South Hadley High
  High · South Hadley · 500 students · 8.6:1 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 2.5 — 2007-10-19
  2 km WSW of Littleton Common, Massachusetts
• M 2.8 — 2002-09-28
  2 km N of Wilton, New Hampshire
• M 2.5 — 2002-06-07
  3 km NNW of Hopedale, Massachusetts