Hadley, Massachusetts
Encyclopedia
Hadley is a town
New England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...

 in Hampshire County
Hampshire County, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 152,251 people, 55,991 households, and 33,818 families residing in the county. The population density was 288 people per square mile . There were 58,644 housing units at an average density of 111 per square mile...

, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

 Metropolitan Statistical Area
Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan area
The Springfield Metropolitan Area is a region that is socio-economically and culturally tied to the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the Springfield metropolitan statistical area as consisting of three counties in Western Massachusetts. As of...

. The area around Hampshire Mall
Hampshire Mall
Hampshire Mall is a primarily one-story shopping mall with a small second floor in Hadley, Massachusetts, United States, with approximately 55 stores owned by The Pyramid Companies. Current anchor stores include Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, and Target. There is a LaserStorm, a...

 and Mountain Farms Mall
Mountain Farms Mall
Mountain Farms Mall is a one-story shopping mall in Hadley, Massachusetts, United States, with approximately 12 stores. It is located on Route 9, at 335 Russell Street in Hadley, Massachusetts, between Amherst and Northampton, approximately five miles east of Exit 19 off I-91. The mall is owned by...

 along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding communities.

Early

Hadley was first settled in 1659 and was officially incorporated in 1661. Its settlers were primarily a discontented group of families from the puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

 colonies of Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

 and Wethersfield
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Many records from colonial times spell the name Weathersfield, while Native Americans called it Pyquag...

, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, who petitioned to start a new colony up north after some controversy over doctrine in the local church. At the time, Hadley encompassed a wide radius of land on both sides of the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...

, but mostly on the eastern shore. In the following century, these were broken off into precincts and eventually the separate towns of Hatfield
Hatfield, Massachusetts
Hatfield is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,249 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...

, South Hadley
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, Granby
Granby, Massachusetts
Granby is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,420 at the 2010 census.It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.Part of the town is comprised in the census-designated place of Granby....

 and Belchertown
Belchertown, Massachusetts
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,968 people, 4,886 households, and 3,517 families residing in the town. The population density was 245.9 people per square mile . There were 5,050 housing units at an average density of 95.8 per square mile...

. The early histories of these towns are, as a result, filed under the history of Hadley.

Edward Whalley
Edward Whalley
Edward Whalley was an English military leader during the English Civil War, and was one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England.-Early career:The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown...

 and General William Goffe
William Goffe
William Goffe was an English Roundhead politician and soldier, perhaps best known for his role in the execution of King Charles I and later flight to America.-Early life:...

, two Puritan generals hunted for their role in the execution (or "regicide") of Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, were hidden http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/html/hadley__mass.htm in the home of the town's minister, John Russell
John Russell (clergyman)
John Russell was a Puritan minister in Hadley, Massachusetts during King Philip's War. As such, he is part of the Angel of Hadley legend....

. During King Philip's War
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...

, an attack by Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 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
Angel of Hadley
The Angel of Hadley is the central character in an apocryphal 17th-century legend combining the execution of Charles I in England, King Philip's War and Hadley, Massachusetts.-The legend:...

, which came to be included in the historical manuscript "History of Hadley" by Sylvester Judd
Sylvester Judd
Sylvester Judd was an American novelist.-Biography:Sylvester Judd III was born on July 23, 1813, in Westhampton, Massachusetts to Sylvester Judd II and Apphia Hall. He studied at Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Massachusetts, graduated from Yale College in 1836, and from Harvard Divinity School in 1840...

.

In 1683, eleven years before the Salem Witch Trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...

, Mary Webster
Mary Webster
Mary Webster was accused of witchcraft in the 1680s in Puritan Hadley, Massachusetts, and sentenced to be hanged from a tree in 1685. According to one of several accounts, she was left hanging all night. It is known that when she was cut down she was still alive and lived for another 11 years...

, wife to William Webster son of the former governor of Connecticut and a founder of the very town of Hadley John Webster
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...

, 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
Magnalia Christi Americana
Magnalia Christi Americana is a book published in 1702 by Cotton Mather . Its title is in Latin, but its subtitle is in English: The Ecclesiastical History of New England...

.

The Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 general Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker
Joseph Hooker was a career United States Army officer, achieving the rank of major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although he served throughout the war, usually with distinction, Hooker is best remembered for his stunning defeat by Confederate General Robert E...

 was a longtime resident of Hadley. Levi Stockbridge
Levi Stockbridge
Levi Stockbridge was a farmer and scientist from Hadley, Massachusetts. He was instrumental in the early history of the Massachusetts Agricultural College now known as the University of Massachusetts, Amherst....

, one of the founders of the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

), 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 University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

 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
Route 9 (Massachusetts)
Route 9 is a major east–west state highway in Massachusetts. Along with U.S. Route 20, Route 2 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, Route 9 is one of the major east-west routes of Massachusetts, and like the others its eastern terminus is in Boston...

, which runs east-west through the town to connect Amherst and Northampton, became a hotpoint for commercial development, and large corporations such as Stop & Shop
Stop & Shop
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company is a chain of supermarkets located mostly in the northeastern United States. Its main rivals are Shaw's Star Market and Hannaford in New England, while ShopRite and the A&P family of supermarkets are its main competition in New York and New Jersey.- History :Stop...

 and McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

 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. Recently announced development plans included a Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

 Supercenter, a Home Depot
The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...

 and a Lowe's
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in...

, plus more than a dozen other stores. These stores cut from through a bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

 farm, angering some. Residents recently passed a limit on retail store size at 75000 square feet (6,967.7 m²), but it will not affect these large projects.

In 2003, an organization called Hadley Neighbors for Sensible Development was formed that has opposed continued large scale commercial development in Hadley by emphasizing the down side 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) has filed and lost numerous appeals but continues 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 wetlands than allowed by state law. However, the rezoning passed in 2004 and the store was finally built in 2009. Lowe's then sued the town because they didn't want to pay the required sewer hook up 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
World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....

 listed the "Cultural Landscape of Hadley, Massachusetts" on the 2010 World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites
2010 World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization World Monuments Fund that calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster.-Selection process:Every two...

.
The landscape of Hadley is largely open-field farming
Open field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...

, which was only used in the earliest New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 settlements and had mostly disappeared by the 18th century; its survival in Hadley on such a large scale is unique. According to the World Monument Fund 165 acre (0.6677319 km²) are zoned for residential and commercial use, providing no long-term protection for the historic landscape.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 24.7 square miles (64 km²), of which 23.3 square miles (60.3 km²) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²) (5.74%) is water. Hadley is bordered by Northampton
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...

 to the west, Hatfield
Hatfield, Massachusetts
Hatfield is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,249 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 to the northwest, Sunderland
Sunderland, Massachusetts
Sunderland is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, part of the Pioneer Valley. The population was 3,777 as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 to the north, Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...

 to the east, and South Hadley
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 to the south. It also has a tiny river border in the southwest with both Holyoke and Easthampton. The Mount Holyoke Range
Holyoke Range
The Holyoke Range or Mount Holyoke Range is a traprock mountain range located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. It is a sub-range of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut north through the Connecticut River Valley of...

 is found in Hadley, and is one of the only two mountain ranges in the U.S. to run east to west.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 4,793 people, 1,895 households, and 1,248 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 205.7 people per square mile (79.4/km²). There were 1,953 housing units at an average density of 83.8 per square mile (32.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.91% White, 0.75% African American, 0.6% Native American, 1.56% Asian, 0.58% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic 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
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 24.7% of all households 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
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $24,945. About 4.8% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Hadley is governed by open Town Meeting
Town meeting
A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....

, a form of government most common to New England. The Board of Selectmen consists of five members and is elected annually on the second Tuesday in April. There is a Town Administrator as well. The Town Meeting takes place the first Thursday in May.

Board of Selectmen

  • Brian West, Chair
  • Daniel Dudkiewicz, Clerk
  • Joyce Chunglo
  • Gloria DiFulvio
  • David Moskin


Points of interest

  • Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum
    Porter-Phelps-Huntington House
    Porter-Phelps-Huntington House is a historic house and museum located at 130 River Drive in Hadley, Massachusetts.It was built in 1752 and added to the National Historic Register in 1973.-External links:* - official site...

  • Skinner State Park and Historic Summit House
    J. A. Skinner State Park
    The Joseph Allen Skinner State Park is located on Mount Holyoke, the western-most peak of the Mount Holyoke Range located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts. It is accessible from accessible from Rt 47 in Hadley, Massachusetts. At the summit is the historic Prospect House, an...

  • Hopkins Academy
    Hopkins Academy
    Hopkins Academy is the public middle and senior high school for the town of Hadley, Massachusetts.- Founding :...

     (7th oldest school in the United States; currently Hadley's public middle and high school)
  • Hadley Farm Museum
  • Hadley Town Common (longest in Massachusetts)
  • Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium
    Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium
    Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose stadium in Hadley, Massachusetts on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It was home to the UMass Minutemen football team through the 2011 season, and remains home to the UMass Minutewomen lacrosse team. The stadium is...

    , the University of Massachusetts Amherst
    University of Massachusetts Amherst
    The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...

     football stadium
  • North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens
    North Star (education)
    North Star: Self Directed Learning for Teens is a center for community-based education in Hadley, MA, founded in 1996. Founded by two middle school teachers, North Star's mission is to help teenagers find ways to learn and excel outside of traditional high school...


Notable residents

  • William Goffe
    William Goffe
    William Goffe was an English Roundhead politician and soldier, perhaps best known for his role in the execution of King Charles I and later flight to America.-Early life:...

    , English parliamentarian and regicide
  • Edward Whalley
    Edward Whalley
    Edward Whalley was an English military leader during the English Civil War, and was one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of King Charles I of England.-Early career:The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown...

    , English parliamentarian and regicide
  • Joseph Hooker
    Joseph Hooker
    Joseph Hooker was a career United States Army officer, achieving the rank of major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although he served throughout the war, usually with distinction, Hooker is best remembered for his stunning defeat by Confederate General Robert E...

    , Civil War general

Further reading

  • Cultivating a Past: Essays on the History of Hadley, Massachusetts, ed. Marla R. Miller (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2009). ISBN 978-1-55849-700-9

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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