Before the Borders: The Shared Origins of Wilbraham, Ludlow, and Hampden

Long before Wilbraham was incorporated in 1763, Ludlow in 1774, and Hampden in 1878, the land these towns occupy today was known collectively by a different name, Minnechaug, meaning “berry land” or “berry hill” to the Nipmuc people who first inhabited it. This region, rich in natural resources, was part of their ancestral territory until 1636, when it was sold to William Pynchon of Springfield.

In the aftermath of the 1675 burning of Springfield during King Philip’s War, a band of Native warriors is said to have fled eastward, seeking refuge on a rugged peninsula in what is now southern Ludlow. The site, perched above a deep gorge with roaring falls, provided natural protection and seclusion.

According to local lore, the warriors had taken a settler woman captive from Masacksick (present-day Longmeadow), drawing the pursuit of armed colonists. Trapped and with no path of retreat, the warriors faced a terrible choice. Refusing to surrender, they chose to leap from the high cliff into the churning waters and jagged rocks below.

One by one, the warriors jumped to their deaths. Their leader, known in legend as Roaring Thunder, was the last to leap. Holding his child high in his arms, he cast a final look toward their village before following his people into the abyss.

When the settlers arrived at the cliff’s edge, they saw only one survivor, vanishing into the dense forest across the river.

Though unverified by historical record, the story of Indian Leap has been passed down through generations. It remains a powerful symbol of defiance, sacrifice, and the human cost of conflict on this land.

The cliffs of Indian Leap, Ludlow

At the time of the land grant to Pynchon, the area that now comprises eastern Hampden County was included within the broad jurisdiction of Springfield. For decades, however, the easternmost frontier, what would later become Wilbraham, Ludlow, and Hampden, remained largely an unsettled wilderness, referred to simply as Springfield Mountain or the Outward Commons.

By the late 1600s, political pressures from England began to threaten local land claims. King Charles II, wary of Massachusetts' growing autonomy, accused the colony of exceeding the limits of its charter and violating English trade laws. In 1684, the colony's charter was formally revoked by the High Court of Chancery, causing fear that unclaimed lands might revert to the crown.

To protect their eastern woodlots from seizure, Springfield leaders acted swiftly. On February 3, 1685, in a town meeting, they voted to divide the Outward Commons among 125 proprietors, 123 heads of families, plus two allocations for public benefit: 300 acres for the ministry and 150 acres for education. This act of preemptive distribution helped secure local claims and shaped the pattern of future settlement.

The Commons were divided into three sections:

• The First or Upper Division, to the north, corresponds with present-day Ludlow.

• The Second or Middle Division stretched from just north of the Chicopee River in present-day Ludlow, extending southward through central Wilbraham and ending just below what is now Tinkham Road.

• The Third or Lower Division encompassed the southern portion of present-day Wilbraham, all of what is now Hampden, and extended southward to the Connecticut state line.

  
  

Each proprietor was allotted one lot in each of the three divisions, with lots numbered sequentially from north to south. Any surplus or irregular land, referred to as 'overplus', was reserved as a safeguard against surveying errors and was held in common ownership by all the proprietors.

Permanent settlement in present-day Ludlow first took hold in a small part of the Middle Division, just north of the Chicopee River, although the earliest settlement within the Outward Commons occurred earlier, in 1730, in the southern portion of the Middle Division, now part of Wilbraham. Tradition suggests that Aaron Colton was the first to establish a homestead here, sometime before 1751. His house, which also served as a tavern, stood atop a bluff overlooking the river. The area could be reached by a road that forded the Chicopee near where the steel bridge on Cottage Avenue stands today. That road connected to the ancient Bay Path, the vital corridor linking Springfield to Boston since the late 1630s.

Aaron Colton’s home, located at what is now 27 Miller Street in Ludlow, stood atop a bluff just above the Chicopee River and is believed to have been one of the earliest dwellings in the area.

In 1852, the Collins Bridge, a covered wooden span, was constructed to replace the ford crossing the Chicopee River near what is now Cottage Avenue. It was named for Warren Collins, Wilbraham’s first railroad depot agent at nearby Collins Depot. The bridge served the community for decades until it was destroyed by the catastrophic flooding caused by the Hurricane of 1938. A year later, in 1939, a new steel structure was erected on the site and named the Green-Towne Bridge, in honor of longtime selectmen Fred W. Green of Wilbraham and Frank Towne of Ludlow. This bridge remains in use today. However, Ludlow’s historical records suggest that an earlier bridge, a simple pier bridge, may have existed at Collins Depot before 1850, but it, too, was swept away by flooding.

The Collins Bridge

By the mid-18th century, other settlers had joined Colton in the Outward Commons. Names like James Sheldon, Shem Chapin, and Benjamin Sikes appear in local records from that era, and three of the four earliest homes in the area stood within the Commons boundaries. One early settler, known only as Antisel, reportedly lived alone in a log house near Facing Hills, surviving on wild game. If the stories are true, he may have been the first of all.

Another notable pioneer was Joseph Miller, who in 1751 moved his family from West Springfield fourteen miles into the frontier, up the Chicopee River. So perilous was the journey into the wilderness that some mourned the family as lost; local lore even holds that a funeral sermon was preached after their departure. Nevertheless, the Millers flourished. With the river beside them and the wilderness slowly giving way to cleared farmland, their home became a symbol of resilience. Among their household was a female slave, brought with them from West Springfield, who later married and remained in the region.

From these scattered beginnings, communities began to form. Over time, the bonds of shared geography and common struggle gave way to defined borders and separate identities. Yet the origins of Wilbraham, Ludlow, and Hampden remain entwined, rooted in the ancient Outward Commons and the bold vision of those who dared to call the wilderness home.