Westfield

Westfield, a township of Hampden county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., on the Westfield river, about io m. W. of Springfield. Pop. (1890) 9805; (1900) 12,310 (2441 being foreign-born); (1905, state census) 13,611; (1910) 16,044. It is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford and the Boston & Albany railways, and is connected with Springfield, Holyoke and Huntington by electric lines. The township lies in and on either side of a deep alluvial valley, 6-7 m. long from east to west and 2-3 m. wide, and includes the large village of Westfield and the small villages of East Farms, Mundale, Middle Farms, Little River, West Farms and Wyben. In the township are the Westfield State Normal School (1844), the Westfield Atheneum (incorporated in 1864), which in 1910 had a library of 25,000 volumes, and the Noble hospital (1893). Westfield Academy, a famous secondary school, chartered in 1793 and opened in 1800, was closed in 1866 and its building and grounds were sold in 1877 to the township for a public high school. Woronoco Park (200 acres), in the western part of the township, is a tract of great natural beauty. Westfield manufactures more whips than any other place in the United States, the factory of the United States Whip Company being one of the largest in the world; this industry was begun here early in the 19th century. Other important manufactures are foundry and machine-shop products, paper, thread and bicycles. In 1905 the value of the factory product was $5,818,130, an increase of 31% since 1900. A trading post, known by the Indian name Woronoco (or Woronoko), was established here about 1640. In 1669 the township, which had previously been part of Springfield, was erected under its present name - it was then the westernmost township in Massachusetts. Land was added to it in 1713, and parts were taken from it to add to Southwick (1770 and 1779), to Montgomery (1780),(1780), to Russell (1792),(1792), and to West Springfield (1802).

See James C. Greenough, "The Town of Westfield," in vol. ii. (pp. 3 1 7-45 6) of A History of Hampden County, Massachusetts  (3 vols., 1902), edited by Alfred M. Copeland; and John Alden, History of Westfield (Springfield, 1851).