TRANSPORTATION
In the early
days, transportation was by horse, horse and wagon, sleigh, ferry,
or boat. Crossings over rivers and streams in town were often done
on foot over a felled tree. In the 1660s, there were no roads to
Boston, and travel between towns was on or along the Connecticut River.
Hadley had a ferry at the south end of West Street (lower ferry) and
later at Hockanum and in the north of town (upper ferry). Wait’s Ferry was
opposite Huntington Road. In time, bridges over the Connecticut
River and Fort River made travels easier. In 1887 and 1899, the
railroad and trolley came through, which made getting places much easier, and increased
the markets for Hadley’s produce and goods. The automobile and
trucking came in during the early 1900s. Below is a transportation
timeline, followed by a listing of the streets in Hadley, with their
date of acceptance by town meeting.
Sylvester Judd
describes bringing grain to the mill by horseback in his “History of
Hadley” book. He writes in a footnote, “Those of us born in the
last century [1700s] have often rid several miles to mill on the top
of four bushels of grain, fastened to the saddle by the stirrup
leathers.”
Transportation
timeline:
North Hadley Ferry
1661 First
bridge built in Hadley for horses, carts and wagons. It was built
over the Fort River on the road to Springfield. The 79 landowners
were taxed to pay for the bridge. (The Hockanum Covered Bridge was
on this road in 1840 – the road went from the south end of Middle
Street to Hockanum).
1665 The first
county roads were planned and laid out, in response to complaints
about bad and dangerous roads
Carriage Ride toward Hockanum Road by Indian Hill
Notice the logs piled up on the river!
1667 Second
bridge ordered over Fort River on the way to Hockanum Meadow and
Springfield, replacing the 1661 bridge.
1677 Joseph
Kellogg was the ferryman for the ferry at the south end of the
palisades to the Northampton Meadows (the Lower Ferry). The Kellogg
family ran the ferry for the next 100 years.
1681 Third
bridge over the Fort River built, replacing the last one, built on
highest spot possible
1684 Bridge
built over the Mill River. Labor was done by townspeople based on
the size of their estate. Those that did not work paid in grain.
1754 Here are
two entries in a Hockanum tavern ledger, one for the gathering in
the spring of all the able bodied men in the neighborhood to bring
the ferry wire across, and the other in the fall when the ferry boat
was secured and the wire reeled up again.
Apr.
1754: By some Lickquire att the Phery 00:12:00 (pounds:shillings:pence)
Nov.
1754: By 2 qorts of Rhum to turn over the boat 00:06:00
Hockanum Ferry from Northampton Side, Samuel Russell on hay
1755 Hockanum
Ferry was first established by the county court (however the tavern
entry in 1754 shows it was around earlier, too). From Hockanum to
Northampton center is two and a half miles by ferry, seven miles by
road and bridge. In winter when the river was frozen, wagons were
brought right over the ice.
1775 There
were two two-horse wagons in town, owned by Elisha Cook and Samuel
Sheldon. Cook’s wagon was hired to carry the baggage and provisions
of the Hadley troops marching to Cambridge after the battle of
Lexington in 1775.
1808 One horse
wagons: the first one horse wagons believed to be made in the area,
other than lumber wagons, were made by Mason Abbe of Amherst.
Joseph Smith of Hadley purchased the first one horse wagon in Hadley
from Abbe in 1808. The following year several men in Hadley began
making them.
1808 The first
bridge was built across the Connecticut into Northampton, it was
made of wood. It collapsed in 1817 during the spring floods.
1826 Covered
bridge built over the Connecticut River into Northampton, wrecked by
cyclone in 1877.
1840 On
February 25, the Connecticut River broke through a narrow neck of
land creating the Oxbow, and greatly shortening the trip by boat
downstream.
1840 The
covered bridge over the Fort River in Hockanum was built
1854 Census of
town businesses included 1 wheelwright and 1 wagon shop
1854 Mr.
French, proprietor of the “Prospect House” on top of Mt. Holyoke,
built a rude railway up the mountain, powered by a horse. In 1856
he used a steam engine instead of the horse.
Summit House Carriage (circa 1900)
1865 A steam
ferry was established in Hockanum, but discontinued several years
later for lack of profitability.
1867 Mr.
French covered the railroad track leading up to “The Prospect House”
on Mt. Holyoke.
1867 or so,
Mr. French built a steamer to bring passengers back and forth to the
railroad at the Mt. Tom Station. The steamer was a square-ended
side wheeler. It made seven trips a day until 1876. Another boat
was built in 1878, a trim stern-wheeler steamer, which ran until
1882.
Summit House Steamboat
1871 Log
drives on Connecticut: 50 to 60 million board feet of timber were
cut near the Canadian border during the winter then floated
downstream in the spring from 1871 to 1915. This made it very
difficult for the ferries and other craft on the river. There was a
pulp mill at Mt. Tom.
Log jam along the Connecticut River
1872 Hadley
invested $70,000 in Massachusetts Central Railroad stock. Many
towns in the area did so as well, hoping to enable the railroad to
be built in the area. The plan fell apart, and Hadley was left with
a poor investment, a $70,000 debt that it was paying 6 to 7 percent
interest on, and a half completed bridge over the Connecticut River.
1877 On the
afternoon of June 14, 1876, a cyclone struck the region. The
covered toll bridge between Hadley and Northampton was lifted up and
dropped into the river, with eleven people and seven teams inside.
One person was killed, the rest were able to get out.
1877 A new
iron bridge over the Connecticut River was completed in November at
a cost of $20,000.
1887 The
Massachusetts Central Railroad was finally built. It crossed the
northern half of the common, connecting Northampton to Boston. The
railroad provided a faster way for Hadley farmers to ship their
produce to market. For the first few years, the train station was in
an old house on West Street, until the location of the permanent
station could be agreed upon.
Train Station along Railroad Street
1891
Two young people were killed when their sleighing party was hit by a
train on the Massachusetts Central Railroad at Flaherty’s Crossing
(now Route
9 where the bike path goes under the road). They were from
Florence, the son of Dr. Learned and the daughter of Rev. Mr.
Hinckley.
1899 Trolley
car service to Northampton and Amherst was established. At first,
passengers crossed over the Connecticut River from Northampton to
Hadley on a barge. A bridge was built in 1900.
1902 Trolley filled with party goers.
Trolley stuck in the snow (along Russell looking toward Amherst,
near Bison Farm)
1904 A state
road from Amherst to Northampton was fully macadamized (paved –
assume this is the present day Route 9). The paving of the state road had been
started in 1894.
1906 The first
automobile was owned by a Hadley resident.
Robert McQueston in his Reo Touring Car, first car on West Street
1910 First
electric street lights.
1917 First
tractor in Hadley
1918 Warrants
requesting the town recommend to the County to discontinue the North
Hadley and Hockanum ferries. It was “Voted that the Selectmen be
instructed not to make the town responsible in any way for financing
the North Hadley and Hockanum Ferries.”
Trolley, Vehicle and Train Bridges
1920 There
were three round trip passenger trains and numerous freight trains
running between Boston and Northampton.
1929 Produce
trucking began in Hadley
Barstow Trucking
1932 The
railroad discontinued passenger service.
1935 Baker (Pete Pekula) making home deliveries.
Jennie Zalot pictured.
1936 The bridge between
Northampton and Hadley was in such bad shape that a pass from the
County Commissioners was required to cross over it.
1939 Coolidge
Bridge built
Bristol Brothers in the center of Hadley
1974 The
Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) was established. In 2008 it
is the largest regional transit authority in Massachusetts; it has
177 buses, 175 vans and 24 participating member communities.
1979 The last
year for railroad freight service. The local railroad’s main
purpose had been delivering items to the Farmer’s Supply warehouse
in Amherst.
1985 The
railroad property in Hadley was acquired by the Massachusetts
Department of Conservation and Recreation (formerly the Department
of Environmental Management) to create a bike path linking
Northampton, Hadley and Amherst.
Painting lines on North Maple Street, 1987
1993 The
Norwottuck Rail Trail opened. It was named after the tribe of Native
Americans believed to live here before European settlers came.
Norwottuck means “in the midst of the river”
Norwottuck Rail Trail
Photo credits: the first three photos are by Clifton Johnson,
courtesy of the Special Collections at the Jones Library, Inc in
Amherst; the Summit House steamer and the carriage photos are
courtesy of the JA Skinner State Park and the DCR; the bridge pass
is courtesy of Patsy Lewis; the Bristol Store
photo is courtesy of Stephen Bristol; the Barstow Trucking photo is
courtesy of Margaret Barstow; the Conn. River train is courtesy of
Stanley Lesko; the baker is courtesy of Frank Zalot; the
Norwottuck Rail Trail photo is by Rick Thayer; all other photos are
courtesy of the Hadley Historical Society.
HOCKANUM FERRY, by
Charles Hiram Thayer (set around 1900).
Two miles I drive, across the level floor of the Connecticut Valley,
through the dust of Northampton Meadow, and come at last to the
shore of the river. On the opposite side, the dozen houses of
its two-mile street all in plain view against the background of Mt.
Holyoke, "like a hound at the foot of its master, lies stretched the
long, lazy hamlet of Hockanum." My horse comes to a stop in
the deep shade of an elm, and sure of a good long rest, falls to
switching at flies. I reach for the battered tin horn which
dangles from an overhanging elm branch, and, thinking of the dinner
that awaits me, blow a hopeful blast or two, then others not so
hopeful, and after a while yet others tinged with exasperation.
When the ferryman's piece of pie is finished and he appears,
following the footpath from his house to the river, I wait with long
accustomed patience as the boat comes slowly across, until at last
the apron grates on the gravel as it is lowered, and the old horse,
by now impatient for his oats, steps on board. The ferryman
puts up the chain behind my wheels, raises the apron, and pushes
off. He shifts his quid from starboard to port, changes the
swing-rope to what has now become the stern and pushes down the
leeboard so that the current may help us what it will, as we each
pick up a hook and begin to pull on the ferry wire.
Sometimes, when one is not hungry, this trip across the river is no
hardship, as on a June morning when the river is like a mirror, its
surface broken only by the ripple where the wire leaves the water,
or where the swallows dip. Sometimes one crosses in a
September fog, when the valley is filled as if with carded wool, and
we put off from shore into a blank Unknown. Lucky on such a
morning that the ferryman did not come home in the skiff from his
last trip of the night before and leave his scow on the farther
side. For no one has ever crossed the river in a rowboat
through one of those fogs. Ten feet from shore, one has lost
all guides and landmarks, and may row around for hours to land after
all on the same shore he left.
In July comes the log drive, millions of feet of spruce, that
started with the breaking ice from way up in northern New Hampshire,
and we see the sharp-pointed bateaux of the log drivers pass, with
their peculiar jerky but powerful stroke. Even with one or two
of the log drivers detailed, calked boots, pike-pole, peavy and all,
to help the ferryman, the longest way around may prove to be the
shortest way home when the logs are running. For sometimes, in
spite of all efforts, acres of logs will lodge against the
ferryboat, and when the strain becomes too heavy the wire will snap
and swing the whole affair in a great arc downstream to the shore.
In November comes down "Vermont rowen" as the oldtimers call it.
The riverbed fills with drowned leaves which are brought to the
surface in deep festoons on the wire, to fall in heaps upon the
apron of the boat. And in November, waiting for the ferryman
loses all its summertime attractions and becomes one long test of
endurance, as the wind sweeps down across the meadow.
Two and a half miles to Northampton by ferry, seven miles "round by
the bridge", is it any wonder we are impatient to have the ferry
open in the spring, and glad to comply when the word is sent round
"Hiram is going to string the wire tomorrow and wants you to come up
and help."
Say what you will, few men ever grow up beyond the point of enjoying
a neighborhood turnout for a barn-raising, with its unlimited banter
and horseplay, with some excitement and a little hard work.
But in a settled community a barn-raising comes only once in a
generation, while our village has had its gathering every spring, to
launch the ferryboat or to string the wire, for well over a hundred
and fifty years, and on the day appointed all able-bodied males of
our village gather in high spirits at the ferry.
Last fall the boat was hauled up on the bank for caulking and
repairs, but the spring freshet floated it off again and now it is
safely in the stream. The wire was reeled up out of danger
from the ice, and now it is our task to carry the end across the
river and tie it to a tree on the Northampton shore. We rig a
set of jury row-locks, and with sixteen foot planks for sweeps, two
men at each, we set out to row the scow across.
Old Ed Johnson is the steersman. Someone sings out "better
drag a grapplin' hook, Ed, you might get your molasses jug this
time." Years ago old Ed brought his new wife and a pung load
of groceries home across the rotting ice in March. The bride
made her dripping way across to her strange new neighbors, while Ed,
in the middle of the river struggled to save the horse and the
groceries. And so Ed Johnson's molasses jug has come to be our
village equivalent for Davy Jones' Locker.
Nearing the other side, we are caught by the current and begin to
drop down stream. "Point her up stream, Ed," yells the
ferryman, and we bend to the sweeps for dear life. At last,
some distance below the desired point, we land half our crew to tow
us up along shore to where we can carry the wire up the bank and
make if fast to the tree.
And we all go home sober, though in the good old Colony days it
might well have been otherwise, for said I not that this gathering
is a tradition of a hundred and fifty years. Old Uncle
Ebenezer Pomroy, landlord of the White Horse Tavern wrote in his big
calf-bound ledger with carefully pointed quill:
Apr. 1754, By some Lickquire att the Pherry
00 : 12 : 00 [pounds : shillings : pence]
Nov. 1754 By 2 qorts of Rhum to turn
over the boat
00 : 06 : 00
Well, none of us will grieve over the absence of Rhum, but many will
envy Uncle Ebenezer his license to spell by ear and by the light of
Nature, untrammeled by convention, as he wrote:
To Pheredge in the year 1754
01 : 06 : 00
STREET NAMES
Many of the names
of roads in town reflect part of our town’s history and its people.
Do you know the origin of the name of your street or who named it?
If so, please email us at
hadley350@gmail.com. Here is a list of the roads in town with
some of their origins. The date the road was accepted as a town
road by Hadley is shown. The quotes are from a report by the
Hampshire County Regional Services Department called the “Hampshire
County Roads Project, Town of Hadley” printed in 1990.
Algonquin
Drive
(1993)
This was on farmland owned by the Kosiol and Slaby families, who
were related. They mostly grew tobacco. The land was
divided, with half going to Stacia Slaby Kozera and half to
Sally Slaby Popowicz. Sally and her husband, Ignace "Pope"
Popowicz, developed their half, putting in three streets:
Algonquin Drive, Wampanoag Drive, and Pope's Way. Pope was
interested in Indian Lore, so he named Algonquin Drive after the
Native Americans that lived in the region before the Europeans
settled here.
Aloha Drive
(1989) Around 1984, Alice Russell subdivided land she
owned on Shattuck Road and put in cul-de-sacs, Morningstar
Drive, Aloha Drive and Ladyslipper Lane. Miss Russell
named the road Aloha Drive after her many travels to Hawaii.
Aqua Vitae Road
(1994, listed in 1945)
Arrowhead Drive
(1981)
Autumn View Drive
Bargate Lane
(1970)
Barstow Lane (1953) Named by and after the Barstow family who farms there.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Bay Road Part
of the road was called South Street in 1856, and part called Bay Road in 1824. In
1945 it was voted to call it Bay Rd from the Amherst line to
the Coolidge Bridge.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Bayberry Lane
Birch Meadow Drive
Breckenridge Road
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Bristol Lane (1955)
Bristol Lane Ext.
(1984)
Burke Way
(private)
Campus Plaza Road First called Connector Road (1970)
Cemetery Road (1994) The road was there before 1846. The town voted in 1914 to name the
road Hooker Ave, however the name was not used.
Chmura Road
(voted to survey and lay out in 1965).
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Cold Spring Lane
(1981)
Comins Road (1826) “Petition for a road from County road leading to
Sunderland from about 60 rods south of Daniel Russell’s house to
the new meeting house in Amherst.” The Committee’s response to
the petition was “to build road on condition that owners give
land freely and as a compensation for that land the town release
the land left for a road called Gaylord’s path down to Gaylord’s
causey….$30 be provided for work this fall provided the town of
Amherst open a road at East end of the same in said Amherst, and
the town agree said road shall be a bridle road.” In 1830 the
part of Comins Road from River Drive to Shattuck Road was voted on.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Crestview Drive
(1970)
Cross Path Road
(1889) The town voted to straighten the road in 1853 and to relocate and rebuild the road in 1887.
Deborah Lane
(1994) named by Theodore Kosior after his daughter.
East Hadley Road (1851) First called Lebenon Rd.
East Street
(1881). It was called third street in 1818. The lower end was opened up
and voted on in 1824. In 1825 it was voted to change the name of
“New Street” to East Street.
Edgewood Terrace (1970)
Elmwood Court From
the 1949 town warrant: “Article 14: to see if the town will vote to accept the
street known as Car Bar Lane (Elmwood Court) as a public way (No
action written in minutes).”
Farm Lane
(1994, listed in 1945) This was on the Matusko Farm. They
mostly grew tobacco. The land was sold to Walter Kopec who
developed it into Farm Lane and Sunrise Drive.
Frallo Drive
(1978) This was named by the developers, Francis and Lloyd
Bristol. They took the first three letters of their given
names.
French Street
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Frost Lane (1968)
James Giard developed North Gate Estates, a sub-division made up
of KennedyDrive, Frost Lane and part of Shattuck Road. It
was approved by the planning board in 1963, and the roads were
put in in 1964. Most of the houses were built between 1964
and 1972. James and Jane Giard bought the land from Henry and
Nellie Kokoski in 1964 for the subdivision. Frost Lane was named
after Robert Frost, the poet.
Golden Court
(Private)
Goffe Street:
(1889) General William Goffe was a regicide, and he lived hidden
away in the Rev. John Russell’s home for years during the 1670s
along with his father-in-law, Gen. Whalley. Legend has it that
he appeared with his flowing white beard before the townspeople
as they were in church to warn them about an imminent Indian
attack during the King Phillips’ War. He then led the people to
successfully defend themselves and then disappeared again.
Since he was unknown to all but a few, it was thought that he
was an angel sent by God to save them. He was called the
Angel of Hadley.
Gooseberry Lane
Grand Oak Farm Road
(1993)
Great Meadow Road (1870)
Greenleaves Drive
Hadley Place (1983) The Pelissier Farm was sold in the 1970s for
development. The farmhouse was moved a little to the
north, and the barns and out buildings were torn down.
Hawley Road (private)
Hibbard Lane (1994, listed in 1945)
High Meadow Road
(1996)
Highland Circle
(1958)
Hillside Drive (1993)
Hockanum Road
supposedly means “bend in the river” in Algonguin. The
road was used in the
1660s on, as the settlers farmed the Hockanum flats. In 1761 it was a county road.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Honey Pot Road
In 1802, the town voted “to raise a committee to layout a road across the
Grass Hollow lots to the Honey Pot lots”. Also voted on in 1862
Huntington Road
In 1813, the town “Voted that the town as a town have no objection to an alteration
in the road from Waits Ferry to Amherst – provided that the town
shall be at no expense for the purchase of land”. Voted in 1914
“naming the road to Amherst south of Bishop Huntington’s place
the Huntington Rd".
Isabel Court (1954) Named after Isabel Breor.
Joelle Terrace (1996)
Kennedy Drive (1968) James Giard developed North Gate Estates, a
sub-division made up of KennedyDrive, Frost Lane and part of
Shattuck Road. It was approved by the planning board in
1963, and the roads were put in in 1964. Most of the
houses were built between 1964 and 1972. James and Jane Giard
bought the land from Henry and Nellie Kokoski in 1964 for the
subdivision. It is believed that Kennedy Drive was named
after the late President Kennedy.
Kentfield Drive
(1974 and 1996)
Kielec Road (1953).
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Kimberly Lane
(1977), previously a private way
Knightly Road Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Kosior Drive
(1994) named by Theodore Kosior
Kozera Ave (1975)
The farmland
was owned by the Kosiol and Slaby families, who were related.
They mostly grew tobacco. The land was divided, with half
going to Stacia Slaby Kozera and half to Sally Slaby Popowicz.
The Kozeras developed Kozera Ave.
Lady Slipper Lane
(1989) Around 1984, Alice Russell subdivided land she owned on
Shattuck Road and put in cul-de-sacs, Morningstar Drive, Aloha
Drive and Ladyslipper Lane. Miss Russell named Ladyslipper Lane
after the many adyslipper flowers that had grown there.
Laurana Lane:
(1974) named by Homer Green after two girls in the neighborhood,
Laurel and Liana Martindale.
Laurel Drive:
named by Constance Mieczkowski after the mountain laurel
throughout the area. Edward and Anna Berestka submitted a plan
in 1968 for a road and 8 lots off Chmura Rd. (private road, est.
around 1960)
Lawrence
Plain Road
(1773) was named after John Lawrence. He had lived in Hadley
for a while, and was killed in Brookfield in 1694 during one of
the Indian Wars. Lawrence Bridge was named after him as well.
Lawrence Plain did not extend to Hockanum Road (other than a
dirt cut through) until 1927 when the Fort River changed course,
and the road which had the Hockanum Covered Bridge on it between
Hockanum Road and Middle Street could no longer be traveled.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Maple Ave
(1994) It was called Cross Street in 1856, and called Maple Ave
in 1945. It was voted in 1825 to “Extend that branch of Ralph’s
Lane running by the poor house in a straight line Easterly, till
it meets the present East St [which means Middle St].” Ralph’s
Lane was discontinued in 1825.
Maplewood Terrace (1970)
Meadow Street
(1894, North Hadley) In 1870 it was voted to accept the
Selectman’s report regarding “a road laid by them in School
Meadow at North Hadley running from the road leading to Grass
meadow East to land of L.N. Granger…commencing at the SW corner
of Napolean Neddeaux…on the road leading to Grass Meadow and
running NE 18 road to land of L.N. Granger.”
Meadowbrook Drive
(1970)
Middle Street It was voted in 1699 “that there be a Highway laid out at the East End
of the 2nd division of Lotts granted on the pine
plaine, and to run from the north to the Middle Highway [now
Route 9] and to
be 16 rods in breadth”. It was called Back Street in the
1700s. In 1824 it was voted to lay out the lower end. In 1825
it was voted to change the name of “East Street” or “Back
Street” to Middle Street.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Mill River Lane
Mill Site Road
Mill Valley Road
(1813) “The town will open the Nashua road through the 1st
division provided that Town of Amherst will agree to open a road
from their West St. to meet it.” In 1826 “Report to lay a road
from Spruce Hill to Samuel Kellogg’s Fort River lot…beginning
near the division fence between lands of Maj. Evastus Smith and
Chester Gaylords at the side of the Sandy Hill East to Kellogg’s
lot.” Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Mitch’s Way (1995) This road is part of a road that used to connect Hockanum
Road to
Middle Street before the Fort River changed its course in 1927.
It was used in the 1660s. Part of it was called Fort River Road
earlier. It is named after Mitch Drozdal, who lived in
Hockanum and ran a marina there.
Moody Bridge Road
(1773) “Lay out a town road to accommodate the lands over Moody’s Bridge,
to conform as near as the ground will admit of to what is
reserved for a highway between the divisions and exchange the
same where it will not admit it.”
Morningstar Drive
(1985) Around 1984, Alice Russell subdivided land she owned on
Shattuck Road and put in cul-de-sacs, Morningstar Drive, Aloha
Drive and Ladyslipper Lane.
Mount Warner Road
(layout voted on in 1774, another section in 1800, voted on in 1946)
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Kielec Road (1953)
Mountain Road (1994) Also known as Barrus Road
Nashua Road (1804)
Newton Lane
(1994), called Powers Lane in 1856, Newton Lane in 1945
North Branch Great Meadow Road (1994)
North Hadley Road
(1961, county discontinued as a public way in 1967)
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
North Lane (1883, called North Street in 1856)
North Maple Street
(1773) It was voted in 1798: “laid a road from Bay Rd to upper Mill River
between the 1st and 2nd Division lots –
accepted layout”- included North and South Maple and Roosevelt
Streets. Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Norwottuck Drive
(1996) This was on farmland owned by the Gnatek family. They
put in the road and sold house lots. Houses on the road
look out at the Mt. Holyoke Range. Mount
Norwottuck is the highest
peak of the Holyoke Range, at 1106 feet.
Old Mountain Road (1994), was called Barrus Rd much earlier.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Philip’s Place (1996)
Pine Hill Road (private in 1990 listing)
Pope’s Way (1993)
This was on
farmland owned by the Kosiol and Slaby families, who were
related. They mostly grew tobacco. The land was
divided, with half going to Stacia Slaby Kozera and half to
Sally Slaby Popowicz. Sally and her husband, Ignace "Pope"
Popowicz, developed their half, putting in three streets:
Algonquin Drive, Wampanoag Drive, and Pope's Way.
Quinlan Drive (1973)
This was built on part of the Bristol farm.
Railroad Street
(1887) “Voted that the Selectmen be instructed to lay out a street or
streets for convenient access to the Central Mass. R.R. Depot.
(from Middle to West St.).”
River Drive In
1945 it was voted to call the road “River Drive beginning at the
Sunderland Line and continuing South through North Hadley to the
Northerly end of Middle St. where the road joins with Middle St.
at the residence of Mr. Arthur Pelissier.”
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
River Road (Ft. Meadow Rd)
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Rocky Hill Road
(first voted on in 1769)
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Roosevelt
Street
named after Theodore Roosevelt, then president. The road was first voted on
in 1798: “laid a road from Bay Rd to upper Mill River between
the 1st and 2nd Division lots – accepted
layout”- included North and South Maple and Roosevelt Streets.
Voted on also in 1941 and 1961.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Russell
Street:
Named after John Russell, one of the original settlers, and the first
minister in Hadley. The street has had various names over the years
including Amherst Road and Village Street. The eastern part was
laid out in 1769 and approved by voters in 1770, then called the
Middle Highway. The northern part was voted on in 1769. In
1830, "Middle Lane" was straightened and renamed Russell Street.
In 1945 the town voted to call it Russell Street from the
Amherst line to the Coolidge Bridge.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Sandy Beach Road
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Scott Lane
(1994) named by Theodore Kosior after his son.
Shattuck Road (1883) The town voted in 1964 to survey and lay out the road.
This was built on Cendrowski farmland.
Shaw Lane
(1975)
South Maple Street (1798) Voted “laid a road from Bay Rd to upper Mill River between the 1st
and 2nd Division lots – accepted layout”- included
North and South Maple and Roosevelt Streets. Altered and
extended in 1810. Voted on in 1946 also.
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Spruce Hill Road
(1821) “Accepted report laying a new road up Spruce Hill on the middle
road, beginning at the corner of Williams and Elisha Cook’s land
and running E to the top of Spruce hill near corner of Elihu
Warners lot.”
Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Stockbridge Street
(1946) Listed as a County Way, not a town road, in 1990.
Stockwell Road was named for the Stockwell Farm. Bernadette
Wyman's parents, Adolph and Mary Pipczynski, bought the farm in the 1940s. At that
time, the dirt road was already named, and only had their house on it.
Around 1953,
Michael and Adeline (Kushi) Burek built a house on the other end
of the road, near Mt. Warner Road (now #38). Joe Fyden built his
house in 1960, then other houses were built shortly after.
The road was listed as a county way, not a town road, in 1990.
Sunrise Drive (1978)
This was on the Matuszko Farm. They mostly grew tobacco.
The land was sold to Walter Kopec who developed it into Farm
Lane and Sunrise Drive.
Sylvia
Heights:
(1963) named by August Woicekoski after his wife.
Szafir Lane (listed in 1945)
Venture Way (1996)
Wampanoag Drive
(1993) This was on
farmland owned by the Kosiol and Slaby families, who were
related. They mostly grew tobacco. The land was
divided, with half going to Stacia Slaby Kozera and half to
Sally Slaby Popowicz. Sally and her husband, Ignace "Pope"
Popowicz, developed their half, putting in three streets:
Algonquin Drive, Wampanoag Drive, and Pope's Way. Pope was
interested in Indian Lore, so he chose the name Wampanoag.
The Wampanoag Indians were mostly centered in Southeastern
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Metacomet, or King Philip,
who started the King Philips war, was a Wampanoag.
West Street (1883) This is the original street in town. It was called Front Street when Back
Street (Middle Street ) was laid out. By 1825 it was known
as Fore Street. In 1825 the town voted to
change the name of “Fore Street” to West Street.
Whalley Street
(1989)
General Edward Whalley was a regicide, and he lived hidden away
in the Rev. John Russell’s home for years during the 1670s, along
with his son in law, General Goffe.
Woodlawn Road
(1970)
