Place:Belchertown, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States

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NameBelchertown
Alt namesBelchers Townsource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25001915
Belchertown Villagesource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25001915
Cold Springsource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25001915
Equivalent Landssource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25001915
TypeTown
Coordinates42.267°N 72.4°W
Located inHampshire, Massachusetts, United States
Contained Places
Cemetery
Lake Vale Cemetery
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Belchertown (previously known as Cold Spring and Belcher's Town)[1] is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,649 at the 2010 census. It is the home of Belchertown High School and the infamous Belchertown State School mental institution which closed in 1992. Part of the town is part of the census-designated place of Belchertown.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

In 1716, the equivalent lands were sold by Connecticut Colony to residents who reside in present day Connecticut and Massachusetts. Some of these lands were granted to Jonathan Belcher, the future Royal Governor of Massachusetts.

Belchertown was first settled in 1731 and was officially incorporated in 1761.

In 1816, part of Belchertown was combined with part of the town of Greenwich, Massachusetts, to form Enfield, Massachusetts. In 1938, Enfield and Greenwich were two of the four towns that were disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir, and the northwest part of Enfield was merged back into Belchertown.

The University of Massachusetts in neighboring Amherst employs more Belchertown residents than any other enterprise or institution.

Belchertown is also the origin city of the post-hardcore/experimental rock band The Receiving End of Sirens

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