Background Note
In 1636, William Pynchon led an expedition to Western Massachusetts in hopes of establishing a trading post. Here he purchased land along the Connecticut River from native Pocumtuk or Agawam Indians. Know as “Masacksic” or “the long meddowe” the area was initially a part of Springfield. Up until 1645 the meadow was used as a common pasture, shared by all residents. It was then divided into lots for 25 families from Springfield who were permitted to build homes. These included the Bliss, Burt, Colton, Cooley, and Keep families.

The settlement grew and by the 1690s there was increasing agitation among the residents for an autonomous community. Religiously and politically the people were still part of the Springfield settlement, but they had to travel three to five miles for the frequent religious services, town meetings, and supplies.

A disastrous flood in the meadows in 1695 prompted a movement to become separate from Springfield. The meadow residents successfully petitioned in 1703 for permission to move their settlement out of the meadows and to an upper terrace east of the floodplain away from the river. A road was laid out (the present-day Longmeadow Street), and house lots were assigned. Houses were built over the next few years, and by 1709 the new homes were occupied. The residents then successfully petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to be a separate precinct within Springfield, which would enable Longmeadow residents to have their own meeting house and minister. In 1714 work was begun on a meeting house, in the center of the Green, and in 1716 Rev. Stephen Williams was ordained as the first minister of this new community.

More houses cropped up around the Green and farms were built up and down Longmeadow Street. By the 1750s houses appeared in the eastern part of Longmeadow in the area now known as East Longmeadow. Still predominantly a farming community, small shops and businesses were established around and on the Green. By 1767 the town realized a need for a larger meetinghouse and a “raising” was held to replace the original. Like many communities in the colonies, Longmeadow was touched by the ever-louder calls for Revolution. April 21, 1775 saw farmers from Longmeadow joining with Minutemen from Springfield’s militia to assist fellow colonists in Lexington and Concord. The impending war divided citizens here, as elsewhere, neighbor against neighbor, Patriot against Tory. On October 17, 1783, Longmeadow was incorporated as the first community in the newly formed Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The “East Village” section of Longmeadow split off from the “West Village” in 1894 to form the separate town now called East Longmeadow. At that time the population of East Longmeadow numbered about 1,600, leaving what we now think of as the town of Longmeadow with a population of about 570. East Longmeadow by this time was an economically and ethnically diverse community with many businesses and industries, a busy railroad yard and a dozen operational red sandstone quarries. A map of Longmeadow from that year shows approximately 100 homes, most concentrated up and down Longmeadow Street.

The arrival of the trolley line in 1896 linking Springfield to Connecticut via Longmeadow Street created rapid growth. Longmeadow was now officially a “streetcar suburb.” “South Park Estates” was the first of many new subdivisions to be built within easy access to the trolley. It was soon joined by “The Elms,” Crescent Road, Greenwood Manor, and Colony Hills. By mid-century Longmeadow had become a town with charming town buildings, an elegant Community House, several schools, and a population approaching 15,000.
 
Scope and Content Note
The Longmeadow homes collection contains materials related to a number of Longmeadow properties, many located along the town’s historic Longmeadow Street. The collection is arranged alphabetically by street name and then numerically by house number. The documentation available for each house varies but might include: Town Report covers with illustrations of specific properties, photographs, histories of homeowners, articles on architectural style, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, and typed extracts and photocopies of deeds or other primary sources.

Houses with more extensive documentation include 663 Longmeadow Street, 826 Longmeadow Street (Colton-Buxton House), 906 Longmeadow (James Coomes House), and 1060 Longmeadow Street (Marchant Samuel Colton House). Plans for 5 Laurel Street include a 1935 Olmsted Brothers study for plantings in front of the house.

In addition to information on specific properties there are also materials related to “The Green” and “The Meadows”. The collection also contains a binder with house histories and a list of past owners for a number of historic properties, the majority of which are located on Longmeadow Street. Photographs in the collection range from mounted photographs from the late 1800s to more contemporary snapshots. The collection also includes an interesting group of panoramic shots of “The Green” taken in the 1880s. A number of houses on Longmeadow Street were photographed in 1986 and those images are included here.
 
Box and Folder Listing