Place:Chester, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States

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NameChester
Alt namesChester Stationsource: USGS, GNIS Digital Gazetteer (1994) GNIS25001055
Murrayfieldsource: Family History Library Catalog
TypeTown
Coordinates42.267°N 72.967°W
Located inHampden, Massachusetts, United States
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


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

Chester is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, situated in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan statistical area. The town includes the Chester Factory Village Historic District. The total population was 1,228 in the 2020 census.

History

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

The area was opened for settlement in the 1750s as Township No. 9. It was incorporated as Murrayfield by the Massachusetts General Court on October 31, 1765. The town’s name was often confused with that of nearby Myrifield, also spelled “Merryfield” (now Rowe, Massachusetts) so the town petitioned the General Court to change its name to “Fairfield”. The General Court chose the name “Chester” instead and passed the act to change its name on February 21, 1783.

The Western Railroad (later Boston & Albany Railroad) opened to Chester on May 24, 1841. In 1893 the collapse of a railroad bridge in Chester killed 14 people.

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