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
South 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) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,350 at the 2020 census. The town includes the census-designated place of Belchertown. Belchertown was formerly the home of the Belchertown State School. The land on which the school sat is, as of 2016, being redeveloped for mixed uses including residential, commercial and recreational. This includes the Lampson Brook Farm, used for community and sustainable agriculture, outdoor recreation, and wildlife preservation.

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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 as Cold Spring, later the name was changed to Belcher's Town, and then Belchertown.

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 Belchertown State School for mentally disabled residents was located in the town for 70 years, from 1922 until its closing in 1994 amid revelations of poor conditions and inhumane treatment of its residents. The property has since been under consideration for redevelopment housing, business and agricultural use.

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

Belchertown's executive authority consists of a select board, which in 1964 expanded from three members to five: Belchertown Select Board, of which the name changed in 2019 from the Board of Selectmen.

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