Springfield is the most populous city in and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 155,929, making it the 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the 4th most populous city in New England after Boston, Worcester, and Providence. Metropolitan Springfield, as one of two metropolitan areas in Massachusetts, had a population of 699,162 in 2020.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts. It is the oldest, largest, and flagship campus in the University of Massachusetts system, and was founded in 1863 as the Massachusetts Agricultural College. It is also a member of the Five College Consortium, along with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley.
The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses, a satellite campus in Springfield and also 25 campuses throughout California and Washington with the University of Massachusetts Global.
West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,835 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is also known as "West Side", in reference to the fact that it is on the western side of the Connecticut River from Springfield, a fact which played a major part in the town's early history.
Suffolk University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. With 7,560 students, it is the tenth-largest university in metropolitan Boston. It was founded as a law school in 1906 and named after its location in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The university's notable alumni include mayors, dozens of U.S. federal and state judges and members of the U.S. Congress. The university is also host to its namesake public opinion poll, the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
Commonwealth School is a private high school of about 155 students and 35 faculty members located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
Holyoke Community College (HCC) is a public community college in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It offers associate degrees and certificate programs, as well as a transfer program for students to earn credits for transfer to other colleges. It was the first community college established in Massachusetts, as it was founded by the city's school board in 1946, while others were subsequently chartered under state jurisdiction after 1960.
Pope Francis Preparatory School formerly known as Cathedral High School is a Catholic co-educational college-preparatory high school in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The MacDuffie School is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational college preparatory school for day and boarding students in grades 6–12. The school is located on over 250 acres in Granby, Massachusetts, United States, within close distance to the University of Massachusetts, and Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke colleges.
Endicott College is a private college in Beverly, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1939 as a two-year women's college. It began offering four-year degrees in 1988 and became coeducational in 1994.
Becker College was a private college in Worcester and Leicester, Massachusetts. Becker College traced its history from the union of two Massachusetts educational institutions—one founded in 1784 and the other in 1887. The college closed at the end of the 2020–21 academic year.
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is a private university focused on health- and life-sciences education, with campuses in Boston, Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire, as well as online programs. The university provides traditional and accelerated programs of study focused on professional education in pharmacy and the health sciences.
The greater Hartford–Springfield area is an urban region and surrounding suburban areas that encompasses both north-central Connecticut and the southern Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts; its major city centers are Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut.
Ames Hill/Crescent Hill District is an historic district in Springfield, Massachusetts, bounded by sections of Central, Maple, Mill, and Pine Streets, Crescent Hill, Ames Hill Drive, and Maple Court. This section of Springfield was the city's first "Gold Coast," built primarily during the early Industrial Revolution, from approximately 1812–1850. The Ames Hill/Crescent Hill Historic District includes Mulberry Street, the upper-class street made famous by Dr. Seuss's first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, (1937.) Dr. Seuss's grandparents lived on Mulberry Street. This National Historic District overlaps somewhat with both the Ridgewood and Maple Hill Historic Districts designated by the City of Springfield.
Wistariahurst is a historic house museum and the former estate of the Skinner family, located at 238 Cabot Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was built in 1868 for William Skinner, the owner of a successful silk spinning and textile business, and is named for the abundant wisteria vines which cascade across its eastern facade. Originally constructed in Williamsburg in 1868, the mansion designed by Northampton architect William Ferro Pratt was moved to Holyoke in 1874, following the devastating flood which swept away the original Skinner mills. Following the death of Belle Skinner, its music room was operated as a private museum from 1930 to 1959, housing the Belle Skinner Collection of Old Musical Instruments, before their donation by the family to Yale University. Since 1959 it has been operated as the Wistariahurst Museum, and is open to the public. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
On June 1, 2011, a total of six tornadoes touched down in both western Massachusetts and western Maine. The strongest was a long-track, high-end EF3 tornado that caused significant damage to the city of Springfield, Massachusetts as well as several adjacent cities and towns. By the end of the day, three people had been killed, at least 200 were injured, and over 500 families were left homeless.
South Holyoke is a neighborhood in Holyoke, Massachusetts, located approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of the city center. Today the neighborhood contains many historical brick tenements and 165 acres (67 ha) of mixed residential, commercial, and industrial zoning including many of the remaining businesses of the city's paper industry. The neighborhood is also home to the city's Puerto Rican-Afro Caribbean Cultural Center, the Carlos Vega and Valley Arena Parks, as well as the Holyoke Turner Hall, one of the last remaining turnvereines in New England, and the William G. Morgan Elementary School. In 2018, South Holyoke had the highest percentage of renter-occupied housing of any Massachusetts neighborhood outside of Boston, with an average of 1.5% owner-occupied households across the neighborhood's two census block groups.
Highland Park is a neighborhood in Holyoke, Massachusetts located to the northwest of the city center, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) from downtown, on the banks of the Connecticut River. The neighborhood features Jones Park, originally itself known as Highland Park, which was designed by the influential Olmsted Brothers firm. The residential neighborhood was initially developed as a streetcar suburb by the Highland Park Improvement Association, which underwent several iterations between 1893 and 1930. Today the neighborhood contains numerous Victorian and early 20th century housing and about 219 acres (89 ha) of residential zoning, as well as the Edward Nelson White School.
Eugene C. Gardner (1836–1915) was an American architect and author of Springfield, Massachusetts. Gardner was noted both for the architectural influence of his extensive practice as well as his writings on the American home. Gardner was the most notable architect of Springfield.
