William Pynchon, a Puritan leader and
Treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Company, led an expedition
of men up the Connecticut River hoping to establish a trading
post and Puritan "plantation." The year was 1636. They
came upon meadow land near the Agawam and Connecticut Rivers
that appeared to be ideally suited for farming and grazing. More
important, the land was rich in beaver. At that time in Europe
beaver pelts were much in demand and commanded large sums of
money. Pynchon drew up an agreement with the Agawam Indians to
purchase this land, known to the Indians as "Masacksic"
or "the long meddowe."
Until 1645 the long meadow was in use
as a common pasture, to be shared equally by all residents. At
this time the land was divided into lots and given to specific
families. Copies of a map showing these land grants are displayed
in various places around town, including at Town Hall and in
the Storrs House. Some land was used to attract settlers with
specific skills or talents needed by the developing community.
A road from Springfield to the meadows was completed, making
it easier to move supplies and beaver pelts between Springfield
and Pynchon's warehouse downriver at what is now Warehouse Point,
CT.
The first house was built in the meadows
about 1649. Most of the landowners already had homes in Springfield.
Indeed, what we today call "Longmeadow" remained part
of Springfield until the early 1700's. Residents of the meadows
conducted most of their business in Springfield, where they also
traveled several times a week to attend church services. A terrible
flood in the meadows in 1695 caused residents to realize the
need to move their settlement to higher ground. In 1703 permission
was granted to settle on "the hill" (our current Longmeadow
Street) and to begin to establish a community separate from Springfield.
By 1714 several houses had been built around a common green,
a new meetinghouse was under construction on the Green itself
and the search was on to employ a minister. The young Rev. Stephen
Williams was soon hired. Already widely known as a captive after
the Deerfield massacre, Rev. Williams served as the first minister
of First Church from 1716 until his death in 1782.
In the years that followed Longmeadow
slowly grew. More houses cropped up around the Green and farms
were built up and down Longmeadow Street. By the 1750's houses
appeared in the eastern part of Longmeadow in the area we now
know as East Longmeadow. Still predominately a farming community,
small shops and businesses were established around and on the
Green. By 1767 the town realized a need for a larger meetinghouse
and a "raising" was held to replace the original. Like
most communities large and small in the colonies, Longmeadow
was touched by the ever-louder calls for Revolution. April 21,
1775 saw farmers from Longmeadow joining with Minutemen from
Springfield's militia to rush to assist fellow colonists in Lexington
and Concord. The impending war divided citizens here, as elsewhere,
neighbor against neighbor, Patriot against Tory. On October 17,
1783, Longmeadow was incorporated as the first community in the
newly formed Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Paperwork had been
filed for incorporation before the Revolution, but with the outbreak
of war it was shuffled aside.
The "East Village" section
of Longmeadow split off from the "West Village" in
1894 to form the separate town now called East Longmeadow. At
that time the population of East Longmeadow numbered about 1600,
leaving what we now think of as the town of Longmeadow with a
population of about 570. East Longmeadow by this time was an
economically and ethnically diverse community with many businesses
and industries, a busy railroad yard and a dozen operational
red sandstone quarries. A map of Longmeadow from that year shows
approximately 100 homes, most concentrated up and down Longmeadow
Street.
The arrival of the trolley line in 1896
linking Springfield to Connecticut via Longmeadow Street created
rapid growth. Longmeadow was now officially a "streetcar
suburb." "South Park Estates" was the first of
many new subdivisions to be built within easy access to the trolley.
It was soon joined by "The Elms", Crescent Road , "Greenwood
Manor, " Colony Hills, etc., etc. By mid-century Longmeadow
had become a town with charming town buildings, an elegant Community
House, several schools and a population approaching 15,000.
The Indians were very accurate when
the named their land "Masacksic" or "long meddowe."
The long meadow provided a source of food, livelihood and safe
haven for those early Puritan pioneers. Today, of course, Longmeadow
is much changed and probably would be unrecognizable to its earliest
inhabitants. However, with a brief ride into the Meadows of today,
and a little imagination, one can easily conjure up visions of
the land that first attracted William Pynchon's expedition so
long ago.
Thanks to the Longmeadow
Historical Society Website
"Chronology
of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, History"
and
"History
adapted for Elementary school use"
by Kay Daugherty.
Edited by Susan Hall
