
Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as "western Mass," is a region in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, one of the six
U.S. states that make up the
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
region of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and universities including
UMass in
Amherst, MA, with approximately 100,000 students; and such institutions as
Tanglewood, the
Springfield Armory, and
Jacob's Pillow.
The western part of western Massachusetts includes the
Berkshire Mountains, where there are several vacation resorts. The eastern part of the region includes the
Connecticut River Valley, which has a number of
university towns, the major city
Springfield, and numerous agricultural hamlets. In the eastern part of the area, the
Quabbin region is a place of outdoor recreation.
History
Native inhabitants
Archeological efforts in the Connecticut River Valley have revealed traces of human life dating back at least 9,000 years. Pocumtuck tradition describes the creation of
Lake Hitchcock in Deerfield by a giant beaver, possibly representing the action of a
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
that retracted at least 12,000 years ago. Western Massachusetts was originally settled by
Native American societies, including the
Pocomtuc, Nonotuck
Mohawk,
Nipmuck, and
Mahican. Various sites indicate millennia of fishing, horticulture, beaver-hunting, and burials. The passage of the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in 1990 ordered museums across western Massachusetts and the country to repatriate these remains to Native peoples, an ongoing process.
The region was inhabited by several Algonkian-speaking Native American communities, culturally connected but distinguished by the place names they assigned to their respective communities: Agawam (low land), Woronco (in a circular way), Nonotuck (in the midst of the river), Pocumtuck (narrow, swift river), and Sokoki (separated from their neighbors). The modern-day Springfield metropolitan area was inhabited by the
Agawam people.
The Agawam, as well as other groups, belong to the larger cultural category of
Alongkian Indians.
In 1634, a plague, probably
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
, reduced the Native American population of the Connecticut River Valley to a tiny percentage of its previous size.
Governor Bradford of Massachusetts writes that in
Windsor, notably the site of a trading post, where European diseases often spread to Native populations, "of 1,000 of
he Native Americans150 of them died." With so many dead, English colonists were emboldened to attempt significant settlement of the region.
Colonial and early Federal period
The first European explorers to reach western Massachusetts were
English Puritans, who in 1635, at the request of William Pynchon, settled the land that they considered most advantageous for both agriculture and trading in modern-day
Agawam, adjacent to modern
Metro Center,
Springfield. In 1636, a group of English colonists—lured by the promise of a "great river" and the northeast's most fertile farmland—ventured to Springfield, where they established a permanent colony. Originally, this settlement was called ''Agawam Plantation'', and administered by the
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636, as a settlement for a Puritans, Puritan congregation o ...
. (Springfield lies only 4 miles north of Connecticut; however, Agawam included lands as far south as
Windsor Locks, as far north as
Holyoke
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...
, and as far west as
Westfield.) In 1640, Springfield voted to separate from the Connecticut Colony following a series of contentious incidents and, after a brief period of independence, decided to align with the coastal
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...
, shaping the region's political boundaries. The Massachusetts Bay Colony settled at the Connecticut River Valley's most fertile land―stretching from
Windsor, Connecticut
Windsor is a New England town, town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of ...
, (once part of Springfield,) to
Northampton, Massachusetts―from 1636 to 1654.
For the next several decades, Native people experienced a complex relationship with European settlers. The
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
stood at the heart of their economic interactions, a lucrative business that guided many other policy decisions. White settlers traded wampum, cloth and metal in exchange for furs, as well as horticultural produce. Because of the seasonal nature of goods provided by Native people compared with the constant availability of colonial goods, a credit system developed. Land, the natural resource whose availability did not fluctuate, served as collateral for mortgages in which Native people bought goods from the colonists in exchange for the future promise of beavers. However, trade with the colonists made pelts so lucrative that the beaver was rapidly overhunted. The volume of the trade fell, from a 1654 high of 3723 pelts to a mere 191 ten years later. With every mortgage, Native people lost more land, although their population recovered and expanded from the old plague.
In a process that historian
Lisa Brooks calls "the deed game", colonists acquired an increasing amount of land from Indian tribes through debt, fraudulent purchases and a variety of other methods. Native people began to construct and gather in palisaded “forts”―structures that were not necessary beforehand. These sites were excavated in the 19th and 20th centuries by anthropologists who took cultural objects and human remains and displayed them for years in area museums. With the passage of the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990, a long process of repatriation began.
Tensions between the colonists and surrounding Indian tribes, which had already been poor for some time, continued to deteriorate in the years preceding the outbreak of
King Philip's War
King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...
. Colonial encroachment on Indian lands combined with the
decimation of the native population with European diseases led to increasing Native resentment and hostility towards the colonists. Though some Indians became integrated into colonial society, with many being employed in white households, numerous pieces of legislation were passed which prevented Indians from marrying settlers and staying in colonial settlements after dark, while colonists were prevented from living among the Indians.
In 1662, the leader of the eastern Massachusetts
Wampanoag
The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and forme ...
Indian tribe,
Wamsutta, died shortly after being questioned at gunpoint by Plymouth colonists. Wamsutta's brother, Chief
Metacomet (known to inhabitants of
Springfield as "Philip,") began a war against colonial expansion in New England which spread across the region. As the conflict grew in its initial months, colonists throughout western Massachusetts became deeply concerned with maintaining the loyalty of "their Indians." The Agawams cooperated, even providing valuable intelligence to the colonists.
In August 1675, a group of colonists in Hadley demanded the disarming of a “fort” of Nonotuck Indians. Unwilling to relinquish their weapons, they left on the night of August 25. A hundred colonists pursued them, catching up to them at the foot of Sugarloaf Hill, which was a sacred space for the Nonotucks called the Great Beaver. The colonists attacked, but the Nonotucks forced them to withdraw and were able to keep moving.
The shedding of Native blood on sacred land was an attack on their entire kinship network, and caused Native peoples in western Massachusetts to join the ongoing conflict.
Following the war, the greater part of the Native American population left western Massachusetts behind. Many refugees of the war joined the
Wabanaki in the north, where their descendants remain today. Native American influence remains evident in the land and culture of western Massachusetts, from the practice of tobacco farming to the names of cities and rivers
In 1777,
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
and
Henry Knox selected Springfield for the site of the fledgling United States'
National Armory. Built atop a high bluff overlooking the Connecticut River, Washington and Knox agreed that Springfield provided an ideal location—beside a great river and at the confluence of major rivers and highways. For the following 200 years, the Springfield Armory would bring concentrated prosperity and innovation to Springfield and its surrounding towns.
After the American Revolution,
a rebellion led by
Daniel Shays culminated in a battle at the
National Armory in Springfield.
Geography
Berkshire Mountains
The Berkshires have long been patronized by artists (e.g.
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
, who wrote ''
Moby-Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'' while living in
Pittsfield;
Edith Wharton, who wrote ''
The House of Mirth'' and ''
Ethan Frome'' while living in
Lenox; and
Norman Rockwell, many of whose painting were based on scenes that he observed in the town of
Stockbridge). Cultural institutions include Lenox's
Tanglewood, Becket's
Jacob's Pillow, and Stockbridge's
Norman Rockwell Museum, as well the
Clark Art Institute in
Williamstown. The city of Pittsfield is the largest community located in the Berkshires.
Connecticut River Valley
New England's largest river, the
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
, flows through the center of its agricultural valley. Nearly bisected by the
Holyoke Range and the
Mount Tom Range, this relatively small area contains a number of college towns, urban environments, and rural hamlets. The portion of this valley in Massachusetts is also commonly referred to as the
Pioneer Valley.
At its southern tip, the
Springfield-Hartford region is home to 29 colleges and universities and over 160,000 university students—the United States' second highest concentration of higher learning institutions after the
Boston metropolitan area.
Innovations originating in the valley include the sports of
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
(
James Naismith
James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Scottish-Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball.
After moving to the United State ...
, 1895) and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
(
William Morgan, 1895); the first American automobile (
Duryea, 1893); the first motorcycle company (
Indian, 1901); the first use of interchangeable parts in manufacturing (
Thomas Blanchard, 1825); and the first commercial radio station, (
WBZ, 1920, from Springfield's
Kimball Hotel).
Significant Massachusetts towns and cities in the valley's so-called "Knowledge Corridor" include
Northampton
Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
,
Amherst,
Easthampton,
Holyoke
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...
,
Chicopee,
West Springfield,
East Longmeadow,
Longmeadow,
Ludlow,
Agawam, and
Westfield.
The Hilltowns
The Hilltowns include the areas of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties west of and above the
escarpment bordering the ancient rift valley through which the Connecticut River flows. Elevations increase from about to at least in the escarpment zone. On top, elevations rise gradually to the west.
Williamsburg in Hampshire County and
Becket in Berkshire County are prominent hilltowns. Generally, the hilltowns west of the Connecticut River Valley were less attractive for agricultural uses, which resulted in later migration there than, for example, the fertile Connecticut River Valley.
Subsistence farming
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...
predominated in this area.
The 1,000-foot elevation difference between uplands and the Connecticut River Valley produced streams and rivers with gradients around 40 feet/mile (8 meters/km) flowing through steep-sided valleys, notably the
Westfield and
Deerfield rivers and their larger tributaries. Mills were built to exploit the kinetic energy of falling water, and
mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles.
Europe
...
s grew up around them, or
company towns integrating production, residential and commercial activities.
The development of steam engines to free industrialization from reliance on water power brought about the so-called
Second Industrial Revolution
The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid Discovery (observation), scientific discovery, standardisation, mass production and industrialisation from the late 19th century into the early ...
when
railroads were built along the rivers to take advantage of relatively gentle grades over the Appalachians. And so as hilltop farming towns declined in importance, industrial towns in the river valleys rose to local prominence.
The Quabbin and Quaboag regions
In northern Massachusetts, the higher altitude area to the east of the Connecticut River Valley is known as the North Quabbin region. These northern municipalities include
Warwick,
Orange,
Petersham,
Phillipston,
Wendell,
New Salem, and
Athol near the
New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
border.
The South Quabbin region (formerly the Swift River Valley) includes the towns of
Barre,
Belchertown,
Pelham,
Ware,
Hardwick,
Leverett, and
Shutesbury. This area once included the four "Lost Towns" of Enfield, Dana, Greenwich, and Prescott, which were destroyed to make way for the
Quabbin Reservoir.
Farther south, the area called the
Quaboag Hills includes
Hampden,
Monson,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
,
Warren,
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
, and
Wilbraham on the
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
border. Numerous other towns stretching east towards Worcester are sometimes included in the Quaboag Valley region.
Geology is similar to the Hilltown-Berkshire uplands with resistant metamorphic rocks overlain by thin and rocky soil. With less relief, the river valleys are less pronounced, but still moderately high gradient. The Quaboag Hills and Valley, the Quabbin Regions, and populated places stretching east towards Worcester are all locally known as "Hill Towns"; a term interchangeable with the Hill Towns west of the Pioneer Valley.
Geology
The mountain range in
Berkshire County at the western end of Massachusetts is conventionally known as the "Berkshires". Geologically, however, the Berkshires are a westward continuation of uplands west of the Connecticut River and a southern extension of Vermont's
Green Mountains.
The Hilltown-Berkshire upland ends at the valley of the
Housatonic River which flows south to Long Island Sound, and in the extreme north west of Massachusetts at the
Hoosic River
The Hoosic River, also known as the Hoosac, the Hoosick (primarily in New York) and the Hoosuck (mostly archaic), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed October 3, 2011 tr ...
, a tributary of the
Hudson. From these valleys, uplands to the east appear as a rounded mountain range, rising some although they are actually a
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
. West of the Housatonic-Hoosic valley system rises the narrower
Taconic Range along the New York border. Upper tributaries of the Hoosic separate Massachusetts' highest peak,
Mount Greylock from both ranges, however Greylock's geology connects it with the Taconics.
Most of this region is a rolling upland of
schist
Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...
,
gneiss and other resistant
metamorphics with intrusions of
pegmatite and
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
. Scraping by continental
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s during the Pleistocene left thin, rocky soil that supported hardscrabble
subsistence farming
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...
before the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
. There was hardly a
land rush into such marginal land, but the uplands were slowly settled by farmers throughout most of the 18th century and organized into
township
A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
s. Then in the early 1800s better land opened up in
Western New York
Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...
and the
Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...
. The hilltown agricultural population went into a long decline and fields began reverting to forest.
The Connecticut River Valley is an ancient downfaulted
graben
In geology, a graben () is a depression (geology), depressed block of the Crust (geology), crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults.
Etymology
''Graben'' is a loan word from German language, German, meaning 'ditch' or 't ...
or
rift valley that formed during the
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
Era when rifting developed in the
Pangaea supercontinent to separate North America from Europe and South America from Africa. Secondary rifts branched off the main crustal fracture, and this one was eventually occupied by the Connecticut River. The
Metacomet Ridge is a series of narrow
traprock ridges where lava penetrated this rift zone, beginning at the northern end of the graben near Greenfield and extending south across Massachusetts and Connecticut to
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...
. Fossil
dinosaur footprints in
Holyoke
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...
attest to the life present in this region during the Mesozoic.
As continental
glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s receded near the end of the
last glacial period, a
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...
at
Rocky Hill, Connecticut, dammed the river to create
Lake Hitchcock, extending northward some inundating places such as Springfield, Agawam, and West Springfield, while certain highlands remained above water, (i.e. sections of Holyoke).
Accumulation of fine sediments during the era of Lake Hitchcock accounts for this region's exceptionally rich agricultural soil, which attracted settlers as early as 1635. Although the Connecticut River Valley's soil is the richest in New England, many of its fields have been covered by urban and suburban development. Regardless, the valley remains
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
's most productive farmland. Tobacco, tomatoes, sweet corn, and other vegetables are still produced there in commercial quantities.
Demographics
Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties, in the year 2020 collectively had 828,188 residents, a population greater than that of any one of the six smallest U.S. states. The population amounted to approximately 12.84% of the 2000 population of the entire state of Massachusetts, which was 6,349,097. Its average
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...
is 293.07 inhabitants per square mile (113.16/km
2), compared to 422.34/km
2 (1,093.87/sq mi) for the rest of Massachusetts, and 312.68/km
2 (809.83/sq mi) for the state as a whole.
Western Massachusetts' population is concentrated in the cities and suburbs along the Connecticut River in an urban axis surrounding Springfield that is contiguous with greater
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
(i.e. the
Knowledge Corridor.) A secondary population concentration exists in the Housatonic-Hoosic valley due to the industrial heritage of Pittsfield and North Adams, and the development of tourism throughout that valley. This far-western zone is linked to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, more than with the rest of Massachusetts, however both populated zones are ultimately part of the
Northeast megalopolis. The rest of western Massachusetts is lightly populated, particularly the Hilltowns where densities below 50 persons per square mile (20 per km
2) are the rule.
In descending order of size, its largest communities are: Springfield, Chicopee, Pittsfield, Westfield, Holyoke, Northampton, Agawam, West Springfield,
Amherst Center (CDP), Easthampton,
Longmeadow (CDP), East Longmeadow,
North Adams, and
Greenfield (CDP).
Economy

Western Massachusetts has been compared as a microcosm of the rest of the United States. The third largest city in Massachusetts, Springfield is situated in the region, and it has struggled financially coming close to bankruptcy at the beginning of the 21st century. The unemployment rate in the area lags behind that of eastern Massachusetts by double though officials have pushed for ways to lure more longer-term business growth into the region to tap the abundance of students being turned out by colleges and universities in the area. To combat the higher cost of telecommunications which were roughly double that of eastern Massachusetts, the government of the Commonwealth invested $45.4 Million in building out a broadband network using Federal grant under the 'Massachusetts Technology Park - MassBroadband 123' initiative, funds which were matched by $45 million in federal investment. The 1,200 mile 'middle mile' project was completed in early 2014, connecting public institutions throughout central and western Massachusetts, but also providing a fiber-optic backbone to allow for further expansion in these regions. Building off of that project, the Commonwealth launched a 'Last Mile' initiative targeting 54 communities that were unserved or under-served by broadband. That program has invested in municipal fiber-to-the-home networks, which are also supported by municipal bonds; private provider projects; and advanced wireless projects to connect homes and businesses in these communities. Small, rural towns such as Mount Washington, Mass., now have access to internet speeds that reach 500 megabit per second (Mbps) symmetrical service. In recent years there has been a push for adding high-speed rail from western Massachusetts for eastern Massachusetts. The residents of western Massachusetts have vibrant culture in and support the local mix of arts, tourism, and culture.
Education

The decline of manufacturing as the region's economic engine since World War II—and in particular, since the controversial closing of the
Springfield Armory—was counterbalanced in western Massachusetts by growth in post-secondary education and healthcare.
This created new jobs, land development, and had
gentrifying effects in many
college towns. State and community-funded schools (e.g.,
University of Massachusetts Amherst and
Westfield State University) were conspicuous in their growth, as were the region's highly regarded
liberal arts colleges, including
Williams founded 1793,
Amherst founded 1821,
Mount Holyoke founded 1837,
Smith founded 1871, and
American International founded 1885.
Despite the gains in higher ed, the region has sought to obtain equitable share of the state's education budget to place into local primary education as well. Several communities in western Massachusetts have fought to have changes made the Chapter 70 structure which the state presently uses to allocate education funding to cities and towns.
Colleges and universities
*
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
*
American International College
*
Bard College at Simon's Rock
*
Bay Path University
*
Berkshire Community College
*
Cambridge College
*
Conway School of Landscape Design
*
Elms College
*
Five Colleges Association
*
Greenfield Community College
*
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...
*
Holyoke Community College
*
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
*
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...
*
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
*
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The institution's mission, called the Humanism, Humanics philosophy, calls for educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service ...
*
Springfield Technical Community College
*
University of Massachusetts Amherst
*
Westfield State University
*
Western New England University
*
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...
Government and politics
Western Massachusetts used to be the Republican stronghold in an otherwise heavily Democratic state, but it is now consistently viewed by political analysts as one of the most politically liberal regions in the United States. In 2006 and 2010, the region voted heavily in favor of Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African Americans, African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Pa ...
.
In ''Crash!ng the Party'',
Ralph Nader includes western Massachusetts as one of the few places in the country where he believes small-town spirit is still strong. In a 2010 editorial, the ''Boston Globe'' berated communities in northern western-Massachusetts for resisting efforts to force consolidation of local school districts. In response, the Franklin County School Committee Caucus released a map that overlaid the county north-to-south over Metro Boston. The overlay reached from Rhode Island in the south to New Hampshire in the north and Framingham in the west.
In 2008 the
Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts opened a local office in western Massachusetts.
Counties
The western portion of Massachusetts consists approximately of the four counties of
Franklin,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
,
Hampden and
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
. This set of four counties is sometimes regarded as defining western Massachusetts; for example, th
Western Massachusetts Office of the Governorserves residents of these counties. Towns at the western edge of
Worcester County, especially those near the
Quabbin Reservoir, may be considered to be in western Massachusetts for some purposes; for example, two Worcester County towns have telephone numbers in western Massachusetts's
area code 413.
Hampden County, with over half of the population of western Massachusetts, includes the
City of Springfield; to the north, Hampshire County contains the college towns of
Northampton
Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
,
Amherst and
South Hadley; further north, rural Franklin County borders Vermont and New Hampshire; to the west is Berkshire County, bordering New York, Vermont and Connecticut and the other three counties.
After a number of county governments were eliminated in Massachusetts in the late 1990s (including Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Berkshire and Worcester), most county functions were assigned to the state government. The municipalities of
Franklin and
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
counties then organized two voluntary county-oriented "regional councils of government".
Attitude towards eastern Massachusetts/Boston
Some residents of western Massachusetts are critical towards
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, the state's capital and largest city. This group believes that the Massachusetts legislative and executive branches know little of and care little about western Massachusetts, which comprises 20% of the total population of the state.
Among the incidents that have created this feeling:
*The dismantling, submerging and disincorporation of four western Massachusetts towns,
Prescott,
Enfield,
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
(formerly in Hampshire County) and
Dana (formerly in Worcester County), to build the
Quabbin Reservoir that supplies water to Boston. Also disruption of small towns accompanying flood control projects such as
Knightville Reservoir and construction of the
Massachusetts Turnpike.
* Extreme inequities in additional state assistances per capita for western Massachusetts cities compared with eastern Massachusetts cities—for example, in 2006, for every $278.66 Boston received, its neighbor Cambridge received $176.37, Greater Boston's westernmost city, Worcester, received $67.50, while the City of Springfield received $12.04 per person.
*Former state House Speaker
Tom Finneran's use of parliamentary rules to deny Northampton an election to fill a vacant House seat.
*Abolishing county governance placed formerly local property and employees under the direct administration of the eastern capital. This also affected representation of low-population/large-land rural towns which previously relied on their county seat in budgeting of road maintenance funding.
Long a haven for small, independent businesses, western Massachusetts has expressed conflicted feelings towards
big box corporations, leading to controversies about zoning changes and variances that would allow companies such as
Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
to build in western Massachusetts towns. The debate has been particularly strong in northern towns; for example, in
Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Transportation
Interstates
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Bridges and tunnels
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Hoosac Tunnel
Airports
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Great Barrington Airport
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North Adams Airport
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Northampton Airport
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Orange Municipal Airport
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Pittsfield Municipal Airport
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Turners Falls Airport
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Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport
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Westover Airport
Nearby airports
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Logan International Airport in Boston, northeast of downtown Boston, New England's largest transportation center
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Worcester Regional Airport in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
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Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...
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Albany International Airport, West of the Berkshires in upstate New York
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Bradley International Airport
Bradley International Airport – historically known as Bradley Field – is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, Con ...
, South of Springfield in Connecticut
Rail and bus
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Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
operates three lines through western Massachusetts. All three stop at
Springfield Union Station.
** ''
Lake Shore Limited'' Line: Travels from Chicago, Illinois to Boston: Travels from the capitol in Boston, stops at Springfield-Union,
Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center (Pittsfield, MA), and service onward to upstate New York towards Buffalo via Albany.
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Northeast Regional'' Travels from Springfield to D.C./Virginia, converges at New Haven, CT into the mainline with the separate-branch from Boston.
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Vermonter'' Line: Travels from Washington, D.C. to Vermont with four stops in western Massachusetts including: Union-Springfield,
Holyoke station,
Union-Northampton,
John W. Olver Transit Center (Greenfield, MA).
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CTRail's
Hartford Line started operating to Union Station-Springfield as the northern terminus. Trains operate from New Haven, CT with multiple stops in Connecticut along the way. The
New Haven–Springfield Line was upgraded in conjunction with the launch of the Hartford Line service. The project received funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Federal Government, and the State of Connecticut. Amtrak trains on the route between New Haven and Springfield reach speeds of .
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Central Corridor Rail Line: A proposed line is under review from New London, CT. This line would also have stations in western Massachusetts at:
Union-Palmer (Palmer, MA);
Amherst station; and Millers Falls before reaching Vermont.
The following regional transit authorities operate in western Massachusetts:
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Berkshire Regional Transit Authority
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Franklin Regional Transit Authority
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Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (connects with
Connecticut Transit Hartford rail)
Leisure activities and places of historical interest
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Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum
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Arrowhead (Herman Melville)
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Basketball Hall of Fame
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The Big E
The Big E, formally known as The Eastern States Exposition, is an annual fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, which opens on the second Friday after Labor Day and runs for seventeen days.
It is billed as "New England's Great State fair, Sta ...
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Clark Art Institute
*The
Five Colleges:
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
,
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...
,
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...
,
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
, and
UMass Amherst
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Forest Park in Springfield – one of the largest urban parks in the U.S., featuring a zoo and ''Bright Nights'' during the holidays
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Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
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Historic Deerfield
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Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and The Evergreens
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Jacob's Pillow
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MassMoCA
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National Yiddish Book Center
*The
Quadrangle
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Dr. Seuss Memorial
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The Mount
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Norman Rockwell Museum
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Tanglewood
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Six Flags New England
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J. A. Skinner State Park
*The
Springfield Armory National Park
A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
*
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
'
Club Quarter
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Yankee Candle
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Shelburne Falls Bridge of Flowers
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Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum
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Wistariahurst
Outdoor recreation
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Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...
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Ashuwillticook Rail Trail
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Bash Bish Falls State Park
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Berkshire East Ski Area
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The Berkshires
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Blandford Ski Area
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Bousquet Ski Area
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Connecticut River
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Deerfield River
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Farmington River
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Jiminy Peak
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Lake Buel
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Lake Onota
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Mount Everett State Reservation
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Mount Greylock
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Mount Holyoke
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Mount Tom
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Otis Reservoir
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Pittsfield State Forest
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Quabbin Reservoir
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Ski Butternut—
Great Barrington
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Westfield River
See also
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Area code 413
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Cooperating Colleges of Greater Springfield
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Five College Consortium
The Five College Consortium (often referred to as simply the Five Colleges) comprises four Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts: Am ...
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Geography of Massachusetts
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List of counties in Massachusetts
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Seven Sisters (colleges)
The Seven Sisters are a group of seven private liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Wellesley College ar ...
Citations
General and cited references
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* Local history blog.
External links
Western Massachusetts Economic Development CouncilWestern Mass culture, arts, and tourism Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
��YellowMaps
Western Massachusetts 1855 Bowles—Old State Map Reprint��1855 map at Old Maps
{{Massachusetts
Regions of Massachusetts