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Springfield is a city in Massachusetts. It is the county seat of Hampden County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 152,082. It is the third largest city in Massachusetts and fourth largest in New England (behind Boston, Providence and Worcester). According to a July 1, 2003 Census estimate, there were 152,157 people in Springfield. The city is the largest (and also historically the first) city called Springfield in the United States. It is also the largest city on the Connecticut River and the largest city in Western Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley. It is home to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield Falcons hockey team. It has a notable history as the home to Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, and as the birthplace of that great American pastime, basketball, invented by James Naismith at Springfield College. It is also home to the western world's largest collection of Chinese cloisonné at the G.W. Vincent Smith Art Museum. The city of Springfield holds two nicknames, The City of Homes and The City of Firsts. With Hartford, Connecticut, greater Springfield constitutes New England's Knowledge Corridor. History
Springfield was founded in 1636 by William Pynchon, the then assistant treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town was named after the city in England where he was born. The location on the floodplains of the Connecticut River included soil suitable for farming. Long, narrow plots of farmland were created, extending out from the river. Over time, parts of the settlement were sectioned off to form neighboring towns, including West Springfield. Springfield remained a small, working town when in 1675, during King Philip's War, its security was threatened. The leader of the Wampanoag Indian tribe, Wamsutta, died shortly after being questioned at gunpoint by Plymouth colonists. Soon thereafter, the war began. Wamsutta's brother and successor, Metacomet, known as Philip to the colonists, started war with the colony to avenge his brother's death; the tribe attacked Springfield and destroyed more than half the town. During the 1770s, George Washington selected Springfield as the site of the National Armory. By the 1780s the Arsenal was a major ammunition and weapons depot. In 1787 poor farmers from western Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays, tried to seize the arms at Springfield. This came to be known as Shays' Rebellion, and was a key event leading to the Federal Constitutional Convention. Those involved in the rebellion planned to use the weapons to force the closure of the Commonwealth and county courts, which were seizing their lands for debt. The term Springfield Rifle may refer to any sort of arms produced by the Springfield Armory for the United States armed forces.
In 1852, Smith and Wesson, America's largest producer of handguns, was founded in Springfield. The company remains headquartered there. Also in 1852, Massachusetts incorporated Springfield as a city. In 1893, two Springfielders named Charles and Frank Duryea built the first ever gasoline powered commercial car in Springfield. The Duryea Motor Wagon was put on the streets of Springfield on September 20 1893. This part of the city was later annexed by Chicopee, Massachusetts. Springfield is known as the City of Homes, a nickname given to it in the late 19th century due to its many Victorian mansions, as well as multitudes of single-family houses inhabited by workers. The city of Springfield is most commonly known as the birthplace of basketball. In 1891, James Naismith, a physical education teacher in Springfield, invented the sport at the Springfield YMCA, now Springfield College, to fill the gap between the football and baseball seasons. The sport quickly became popular worldwide. On February 17, 1968, The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was opened on the Springfield College campus which was replaced by a larger facility on the east bank of the Connecticut river in 1985. In 2002 a newer facility for the Hall of Fame opened next to the existing site. Shaped like a basketball and illuminated at night, it has become an interesting addition to the cityscape. In 1901, the Indian Manufacturing Company, America's first motorcycle brand, was founded by George M. Hendee and C. Oscar Hedstrom in Springfield -- two years before Harley Davidson Motor Company. Springfield is the birthplace of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, drug pioneer Timothy Leary, and famous actor Kurt Russell, among an eclectic group of other notables. More recent famous Springfielders include the National Basketball Association's Travis Best, and the musical bands Staind and The Acacia Strain. In 1936, Springfield suffered its most devastating natural disaster. The Connecticut River flooded, reaching record heights, inundating the South End and the North End (before the flood, houses — some of Springfield's finest — stood where Interstate 91 now runs). Damages were estimated at $200,000,000 in 1936 dollars. This flood occurred at the height of the Great Depression; Western Massachusetts and Springfield had already suffered greatly. The water damage was repaired after WPA money was made available to Springfield. However, large riverfront portions of the North and South Ends no longer exist. For nearly six decades, Springfield has been slumping economically, due largely to a decline in manufacturing. Many major companies that maintained factories in the city closed their facilities, moving to the suburbs or out of New England all together. In 1968, the Springfield Armory was closed by the Pentagon. Another large manufacturer, American Bosch, shuttered its doors in 1986. In 2005, this exodus continued, with the closure of the Danaher Tool forge, maker of Craftsman tools. Many Springfield residents moved to the suburbs to escape inner-city crime and urban decay. Because manufacturing had been a large part of Springfield's economy, it proved difficult to fill the void with a service-based economy, more so than in similar cities with more diversified economies. Local department stores, Forbes & Wallace and Steigers, shuttered in 1974 and 1994, respectively. Johnsons Bookstore closed a few years later, though this was due less to a decline in retail downtown than competition from chain bookstores, such as Barnes and Noble. Many banks headquartered in Springfield closed or merged with larger banks, (in fact, all but Hampden Bank, which remains the only Springfield-based bank.) A downtown revitalization project known as Baystate West, was completed in 1973, but over the years it too became empty. The construction contributed to Springfield's somewhat modern 1970s-era skyline. The Eastfield Mall, built on Springfield's outskirts in 1969, proved more successful. However, it suffered a decline after the Holyoke Mall was opened in the 1980s. Over the past five years, the mall has rebounded; consequently, Springfield's largest retail area is now on Boston Road, on the northeastern edge of the city, rather than downtown. The Quadrangle, an extraordinary grouping of museums and sculpture gardens, remains a testament to the city's nineteenth-century grandeur. Control BoardIn July 2004, the Massachusetts General Court created, in response to the city's request for additional aid, a state-run Finance Control Board (FCB) to resolve an escalating financial crisis. The fiscal problems had already resulted in wage freezes, cuts in city services, fee increases, and layoffs. The FCB consisted of the mayor (Charles Ryan), the City Council president, and three eastern-Massachusetts based appointees of Governor Mitt Romney. The Control Board operates under the overall direction of state Secretary of Finance and Administration then-Eric Kriss. The FCB legislation included a state loan of $52 million to be paid back with future city tax receipts. A $20 million grant was originally included, but then-House Speaker Thomas Finneran killed that section, fearing it would invite fiscal irresponsibility among other municipalities. Initial estimates placed the city's operating deficit at over $40 million annually. The original FCB bill filed by Governor Romney included a suspension of Chapter 150E, the state law that defines the collective bargaining process for public employees (state employees are not covered by federal labor laws). Opposition from the unions killed that section. City and state officials disagree over the causes. The state blames overspending relative to income by the city. Municipal officials blame dwindling local aid during the statewide financial crisis in 2003. As of 2006, the Control Board has balanced the city's budget, but not without controversy. The City froze all wage increases for employees in fiscal years 2004 and 2005, resulting in substantial litigation with employee unions. Their suits claim that the wage freeze violated their contracts and the collective bargaining law itself and was done without proper legal authority. So far the largest unions, police, firefighters, and teachers have been resolved. Teachers scored a victory in court when Judge Constance Sweeney ruled the wage freeze implemented by former Mayor Michael Albano to be illegal. (The control board's freezes were ruled to be not at issue, but the judge suggested they have less legal footing). A sum of $2.1 million was awarded to them. The city appealed, but the contract was resolved and the rulings and issue made moot.
In November, 2006 Judge Constance Sweeney, following a law suit by city residents, issued a temporary injunction against the city collecting its trash fee, citing the reasonableness of the plaintiffs' argument. The plaintiffs contended that the fee was in fact a tax, in violation of the state constitution. Sweeney ordered the city to inform residents not to pay the fee pending a full hearing, date to be set December 4. The FCB has a staff of five: Executive Director Philip Puccia, Chief Development Officer David Panagore, Deputy Director Stephen Lisauskas and Executive Assistant Ann-Marie Mahnken, Administrative Assistant Candace McKenna. The State-appointed members of the board are Alan LeBovidge, Commissioner of Revenue, Thomas Gloster III, and Michael Jacobson. Research TipsSpringfield was part of Middlesex County when it was formed in 1641, then in 1662 it became part of the new County of Hampshire. In 1812 when Hampshire County was split Springfield became part a new county of Hampden. One of the effects of this is that all the early probate records for what was Hampshire county ended up in Northampton the new County seat for Hampshire County, including two towns that are now part of Connecticut Suffield & Enfield. All of the early land records for the county ended up in Springfield. Suffield & Enfield moved to Connecticut in 1749, so if you are looking for early probate records from Springfield, Suffield, Enfield, or Northampton they are in Northampton. If you are looking for early land records from Springfield, Suffield, Enfield, or Northampton they are in Springfield.
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