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Massachusetts AHGP Information Hampden, County, Massachusetts Situated in the south toward the west part of the state, and contains 585 square miles. Organized in 1812. Watered by Connecticut River, which runs from north to south through the middle of the county, and Westfield and Chickopee Rivers its branches, which afford extensive water power. Quinebaug River. rises in Brimfield, in the south east part of the county. The surface is various, and the soil fertile. The Hampshire and Hampden canal, a continuation of the Farmington canal, passes through the county. Small steamboats run on the Connecticut River to Springfield. Capital, Springfield. There were in 1840, neat cattle 20,481, sheep 29,176, swine 8,848; wheat 9,852 bush, produced, rye 95,633, Indian corn 134,461, buckwheat 21,376, oats 126,763, potatoes 334,764, sugar 59,391 pounds; 144 stores, capitol $402,600; 2 lumber yards, capitol $6,000; 7 fulling mill, 5 woolen factory, 17 cotton factory, 86,998 sp., 21 tanneries, 2 distilleries, 2 breweries, 6 powder mill, 25 grist mills, 62 saw mills, 7 paper factory, 8 printing offices, 2 binderies, 5 weekly newspapers. Capitol in manufacturing $3,369,515. 7 academies 710 students, 203 schools, 6,586 scholars. Population 37,366. Springfield, Postal Town, capital of Hampden County Massachusetts, on the east side of Connecticut River, 24 north Hartford, 91 west Boston, 363 W. Population 1830, 6,784; 1840, 10,985. Incorporated in 1645. Watered by Chickapee and Mill rivers. On the river are rich alluvial meadows, exceedingly fertile; and back, the land rises and terminates, in a plain, moderately fertile. The main street extends along the river between 2 and 3 miles. The houses are well built, and many of them are elegant. Springfield valley has a court house, jail, 6 churches, 2 Congregational, 1 Baptist, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Unitarian, a paper factory and one of the most extensive United States arsenals of construction in the country. A bridge here crosses Connecticut River. The armory is pleasantly situated, on elevated ground, half a mile east of the village. The buildings are arranged on a large square, and consist of one brick edifice 240 feet by 32, 2 stories high, occupied by lock filers, stockers, and finishers; a brick forging shop 150 feet by 32; a brick building 60 feet by 32, 2 stories high, the second story forming a spacious hall devoted to religious worship; a brick building 100 feet by 40, and 2 stories high, used as a depository of arras, and numerous smaller stores and shops. The water works are situated on Mill River, about 1 mile south of the arsenal, on 3 different sites, called the Upper, Middle, and Lower Water shops, the whole comprising 5 workshops, 28 forges, 10 trip-hammers, 18 water-wheels, exhibiting a great assemblage of water-works. The whole establishment employs from 240 to 250 workmen, who complete 45 muskets daily. The water power owned by the United States would admit of a great extension of these works. There were in Springfield, in 1810, 68 stores, capitol $250,000; value of machinery manufactured, $120,000; hardware and cutlery, $25,000; 30 cannon and 14,000 small-arms; 8 cotton factories 43,700 sp., capitol $1,650,000; 3 tanneries, 2 breweries, 3 grist mills, 3 saw mills, 4 paper factories, 7 printing offices, 4 weekly newspapers. Capitol in manufacturing $2,631,500. 3 academies 140 students, 36 schools. 1,512 scholars. At the mouth of Chickapee River, where it enters the Connecticut, is Chickapee village, 4 miles north of Springfield, a fine manufacturing village in the town of Springfield, which has 3 churches, 1 Baptist, 1 Congregational, 1 Methodist, 4 cotton factory, 1 paper factory, 150 houses, and about 1,200 inhabitants. Read More about Massachusetts other States, Counties and Towns @ Massachusetts American History and Genealogy Project
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