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Newbury Ditches of 1729
What is now the town of Wilbraham and Hampden was once a part of the settlement of Springfield Plantation. William Pynchon and his...
Feb 28, 20235 min read
Wilbraham's Lost Burying Grounds
Wilbraham was home to at least two known private family cemeteries. In the late 18th century, three primary types of burial sites were...
Jan 30, 20236 min read
From the Bay Path to what we know today as our Boston Road, Route 20
Before we get into the history of the Bay Path, we would need to know a little background of this area we call the Connecticut River...
Jan 2, 202310 min read
South Wilbraham Manufacturing Company
The Town of Wilbraham was incorporated on June 15, 1763, and split into two parishes, the North and South, on June 20, 1782. Later these...
Nov 30, 20224 min read
Traveling to the North Parish and beyond, then to the gallows.
Saturday, November 9, 1805, about the middle of the afternoon on a cloudy day, a horse was noticed grazing in a mowing lot of John...
Oct 1, 202217 min read
Wilbraham in the era of Civil Defense
On May 20, 1941, the Office of Civilian Defense, United States Federal Emergency War Agency, was established by Executive Order 8757 to...
Sep 1, 20225 min read
The Electric Railway in North Wilbraham
Most people could not imagine that a trolley line came through Wilbraham. One would think that they were reserved only for the large...
Aug 1, 20223 min read
The Randolph Beebe House, its rattlesnake and the legend of the whippoorwill.
This house located at 48 Beebe Road in Wilbraham was built in 1785 and was originally occupied by Daniel Chappel, although he didn’t live...
Jul 5, 20222 min read
The Birthplace of Wilbraham's "Ethelbert Peaches"
Born in Monson on January 28, 1852, to Albert and Orpha Bishop Bliss, young Ethelbert joined his father in farm work following the...
May 30, 20226 min read
“Ye Olde” Burying Ground
In the summer of 1730, our first settler, Nathaniel Hitchcock, came out to the “Mountains,” or “Outward Commons” of Springfield cleared...
May 3, 20227 min read
Abigail and the Parson’s Rose of 1744
On May 26, 1741, the Worthy Mr. Noah Mirick (Merrick) accepted his nomination as the first minister of the fourth precinct of...
Mar 31, 20227 min read
The house at 6 Chapel Street
My first 23 years of life were spent growing up in this home. I have had many wonderful memories and believe the love of local history...
Mar 10, 20225 min read
Wilbraham and it's four railroad stations.
It took two different railroad companies to connect the City of Boston to the Town of Springfield, thus connecting the Town of Wilbraham...
Feb 11, 20224 min read
The Cutler Company of North Wilbraham.
Another large North Wilbraham business was the Cutler Company, a grain, and milling business that was first established in Ashland,...
Jan 15, 20224 min read
The Atheneum Society of Wilbraham and its old Meeting House.
The Society was incorporated in 1963 as a non-profit organization by a group of concerned townspeople. Their purpose was to form a...
Jan 4, 20225 min read
The “Melancholy Event” of 1799.
Gordon Bliss, son of Levi, graduated from Dartmouth College in 1797. He spent two years completing his legal studies and had just been...
Dec 19, 20217 min read
South Wilbraham, the Jonah Beebe house saved from the wrecking ball.
Jonah Beebe was born on 14 April 1750, in East Haddam, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America. He married Ruth Dowley on 14 April...
Dec 14, 20213 min read
The Memorial Town Hall that was Never Finished.
Since the early to mid-1800s, there has always been discussion about building a Town Hall. It has appeared on the Town Warrant during the...
Dec 9, 20214 min read
The Ruth Merrick College Letters
Ruth Merrick History from the Letter Collector: "These letters were written by Ruth Merrick 1922 . Back in 1998, when I was new to eBay,...
Nov 23, 202147 min read
Tragedies at the Collins Paper Mill
The lack of effective government regulation led to unsafe and unhealthy work environments at the mill. In the late nineteenth century,...
Nov 22, 20215 min read
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