Southwick, Massachusetts

In the mid-17th century, pioneering English explorers moving up the Connecticut River Valley, seeking fertile farmlands and game, discovered the area and settled Southwick. It became a farming community, defined as the Southern (South-) village (-wick) part of the town of Westfield, Massachusetts. Early on, it was nicknamed "Poverty Plains" because the land was thought to be infertile. Its first residential home was built by Samuel Fowler and his wife Naomi Noble on what is now College Highway (US 202 and MA 10), about a quarter-mile north of the current town center.

In colonial times, church attendance was mandatory. The 800 Christian residents of Southwick in the 1760–70s were required to travel to Westfield to congregate. Only by establishing their own church community could they establish their own parish, as they desired. On November 7, 1770, Southwick was incorporated as a separate district of Westfield. The area of Southwick became somewhat smaller in 1770. The southernmost portion of Southwick joined Suffield, Connecticut, as the result of a simultaneous secession of citizens in that part of the village.

Ultimately, Southwick became a fully independent town in 1770. The town remained divided until 1793, when Massachusetts claimed the area (known as the "jog"). A border dispute continued until 1804, when the current boundary was established through a compromise between Connecticut and Massachusetts. As a result of this border resolution, Southwick is the southernmost town in western Massachusetts.

A stake marks the southernmost point in the "Southwick jog" of the Massachusetts-Connecticut boundary. Seen from East Street in Granby, CT.

In the early 19th century, the Farmington Canal and Hampshire and Hampden Canal were built to link New Haven, Connecticut, to Northampton, Massachusetts, through Southwick. Irish immigrants came to the area to labor on this project. Developers spoke of Southwick's potential, calling it the "Port of the World". Farmers worried that the canal would drain the area's lakes. It was reported that citizens would kick in the banks to damage the canal. Traces of the canal can still be found in the Great Brook and Congamond Lakes area. Due to winter freezings, summer drought and wildlife impact (beaver dams, etc.), the canal was phased out in favor of the railroad.

Completed in the late 1840s, the New Haven and Northampton Company's railroad was built alongside the canal (more or less) as a revolutionary mode of travel to and through Southwick. With the railroad came the ice industry and the tourist resorts around the Congamond Lakes (which were named Wenekeiamaug by the previous Native peoples). Several ornate hotels and dance halls were built, as well as a small amusement park. During the Industrial Era, summer vacationers and daytrippers would escape the hot and dirty cities connected by the Northeast Railroad Corridor from New York City, Albany, Boston, Worcester, Hartford and especially Springfield. There was a special stop near the lakes where visitors would disembark to swim and/or pile into canopied pleasure boats.

During the First and Second World Wars, trains loaded with soldiers would pass through town. It has been noted that local girls would gather letters thrown by the soldiers from the train – and forward them to the intended recipients at the post office. The last train to pass along these tracks was around 1976. As of 2008, the old railway is in the process of being converted into a rail trail leading to Granby, Connecticut.

All of Southwick's grand hotels and ornate train stations have since been torn down. Babb's Roller Skating Rink (on the Suffield side of Congamond Lakes) is all that remains of the amusement park.

The fertile soils in the farmlands of Southwick grow tobacco as a lucrative cash crop.

Ice collected from the Congamond Lakes was once stored in massive ice houses in blocks and delivered via railway for food storage from New York City to Boston before electric refrigerators were available for public purchase.

At the busy intersection of College Highway (U.S. Route 202) at Granville Road (Massachusetts Route 57 west) and Depot Street there was a town green. Basic markets of trade, communication, medical and grooming services, barns and utilitarian outbuildings served the traveling public and their horses as well as Southwick's own. A growing collection of homes and civic buildings reflected the period in which they were built. A space for civic gatherings formed. Notably, a village meeting hall was built on the west side of College Highway across from where the Congregational church still stands. The library found its place on the corner of College Highway and Granville Road, as did the "Southwick Inn".

As horse travel lost out to the automobile, blacksmith stalls were replaced with gas stations. Further business expanded away from the original town square. Family stores competed with an A&P grocery located in the heart of the village. A telegram and postal office separated into a Bell Telephone Company office, complete with its own staff of operators and relocated to newer facilities just north of the center. Southwick's many one-room schoolhouses were replaced by the Consolidated School built in 1928 directly south of the center. A police and fire station was built just east of the center. Until the mid-1970s, anyone could walk from the town center to clothing stores such as Smith's Department Store & Adams Shoes, food stores such as Jones Market & Cantell's, doctor's offices, barber shops, banks such as Woronoco Savings and Third National, and two family-owned drugstores: Southwick Pharmacy and Community Drugs, complete with their own lunch counters.

Modernization spurred further change and growth outward from Southwick Center. Business and civic endeavors sought more space for inventory and parking. A few of the historically significant buildings, such as the aforementioned Meeting Hall, have been torn down or relocated to such tourist attractions as Old Sturbridge Village or the Eastern States Exposition to serve as museums of the region's rich history.

Today, the original town square still has the Congregational church, a gift shop and the Inn. All are still in use and have retained their original appearance. Concerned citizens strive to preserve Southwick's heritage.

• NBC – WWLP
• CBS – WSHM-LD
• ABC – WGGB

• The Republican (Daily)
• The Westfield News (Daily)
• Saturday News (Saturday)

• Russell Fox, Chairman
• Doug Moglin, Vice chairman
• Joseph Deedy, Clerk

The Southwick Free Public Library was established in 1892.[13][14] In fiscal year 2008, the town of Southwick spent 2.03% ($316,544) of its budget on its public library—some $33 per person.[15]