A Brief History of Springfield, MA

William Pynchon, the assistant treasurer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded Springfield in 1636. The town was named after the village near Chelmsford, Essex in England where he was born. The location on the floodplains of the Connecticut River included soil suitable for farming. Long, narrow plots of farmland were created, extending out from the river. Over time, parts of the settlement were sectioned off to form neighboring towns, including West Springfield.

Springfield remained a small, working town, when in 1676, during King Philip's War, its security was threatened. The leader of the Wampanoag Indian tribe, Wamsutta, died shortly after being questioned at gunpoint by Plymouth colonists. Soon thereafter, the war began. Wamsutta's brother and successor, Metacomet, known as Philip to the colonists, started war with the colony to avenge his brother's death; the tribe attacked Springfield and destroyed more than half the town.