Whately, Massachusetts

In 1659, English settlers arrived in the Connecticut River Valley and purchased land from the Norwottucks. What is now Whately was then part of the town of Hadley, but the distance to the meetinghouse led those on the river?s western bank to petition for separation, and in 1670 the town of Hatfield, containing present-day Whately, was created. In 1695, Hatfield negotiated with one group of the surviving Norwottucks and emerged with a deed for Whately, then known as North Hatfield. But like Hatfield before it, Whately’s settlers found the distance to meeting to be a burden, and in 1771 their petition for separation was granted. The town was named after Thomas Whately (1728-1772), a British Member of Parliament and horticultural expert. The town’s industry was primarily agricultural until the 1820s, when its proximity to the river meant that manufactured goods could readily reach growing markets. A pottery industry, founded in the 1770s, expanded during this era. The Connecticut River Line built the first railroad through the town in 1846, leading to the expansion of the tiny village of East Whately into a semi-industrial area, with grain and coal storage and loading areas. Whately?s rich soil proved ideal for one of the town’s largest cash crops, tobacco, which rose in value as an exportable crop in the 1850s, expanding through the end of the century. The need for agricultural laborers drew many immigrants to Whately, particularly from Eastern Europe. Their descendents now own many of the town’s farms.

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PlaceWhately, Massachusetts