Village Green Shopping Center Southwick Building Inspector Francis Ehrhardt issued a building permit to Clyde Jones and Robert Pollard in October 1965 to construct an $80,840 shopping center. They tapped the Medical Development and Construction Company of Westfield to head the project. (The general contracting company went bankrupt in 1973.) The Village Green Shopping Center held its grand opening on April 20, 1966, with Jones Market as its anchor. Other tenants included a barbershop relocated from the Southwick Shopping Center and the Venetian Bakery, a new business in town. A branch of the Third National Bank of Hampden County opened about a month later. The new center's parking lot capacity was 200 cars. (Jones Market, founded by Charles H. Jones, was initially located nearby on College Highway. Due to increased business, the new store afforded more square footage than the original.)  1968 - Tragedy Strikes John Graham, of Gargon Terrace, worked at Jones Market and was well...

Liquor raids were common in Southwick, Massachusetts, especially around Congamond Lake, before, during, and even after Prohibition. The Lake was a popular tourist destination, and demand for intoxicating spirits from vacationers, even tobacco plantation and ice-harvesting workers, fueled illegal booze manufacturing. Residents complained to selectmen, who were slow to act or purposely turned a blind eye. When they did act, authorities would routinely target hotels and inns. No establishment was immune; they raided them all, including the Lake House, most notably in 1903 and 1906, and the Southwick Hotel, the predecessor to today's Southwick Inn, in 1869, 1887, and 1904.  Pre-Prohibition In 1908, Massachusetts had 249 towns and 18 cities that banned alcohol, up from 100 towns with local prohibition laws in 1840; enforcement proved challenging. Across the nation, a rise in bootlegging and gangland violence prompted more citizens to join the call for a nationwide ban on alcohol.  ...

Southwick Real Estate Listing Prices over the Years 1868 Described as a fine farm, it comprised 110 acres about 3/4 mile from the Southwick train station and about 4 miles from Westfield. In addition to the land, the sale included a two-story house, carriage house, stock barn, shop, hog house, tobacco sheds, ice house, and a slaughterhouse complete with hide and meat rooms. The asking price and terms were $8,560, half cash.   Home in the Cottage Grove 1882 Real estate salesman George Kingsbury listed what he described as a beautiful farm in Southwick Center. (Price unknown.) 1887 A "beautiful home in the village of Southwick; cottage house in perfect order" was listed for sale by George W. Doane & Co. of Springfield for $1,500. The house sat on 2.5 acres of land with choice fruit and shade trees.  A farmer listed his 33-acre property near the North Longyard schoolhouse for sale for $1,000. It included three acres of meadowland, pasturing for three cows, outbuildings, and ...

  The Southwick Time Machine  presents The Hampden Railroad Company Proposed Route Map The visionaries of the Hampden Railroad Company wished to build a line from the Connecticut State Line to Westfield. The new line would cut through Southwick, primarily following the path of the defunct Hampshire and Hampden Canal, the northern extension of the Farmington Canal. In 1852, the Massachusetts Senate killed a bill chartering the Hampden Railroad Company during the bill's second reading; the bill advanced in the House of Representatives. Following modifications, the Massachusetts Legislature passed it in May, and the company was incorporated with a reduced capital of $175,000. (Funding and project completion dates surround the bill revisions.)   Corporators of the newly formed railroad met in Westfield on June 1 as they awaited authorization from the State of Connecticut to connect with the Canal Railroad at the Massachusetts-Connecticut State Line before proceeding. (Th...

The Mottle family moved from West Springfield, Massachusetts, to a home on Point Grove Road in Southwick.  The Mottle's teenage son, John, frequented Congamond Lake for summer fun and to escape the heat; the diving board provided much entertainment. And that was the case when John and his friend Allan Almeida* swam in North Pond on August 25, 1947.  When John jumped sideways off the diving board and into the water, he never resurfaced. Allan rushed to his aid and pulled him ashore. Seeing that John was in trouble, he got help.  An ambulance took John to Noble Hospital. He was immediately placed on the danger list after a doctor found that he had broken his neck, for John had dove into shallow water, about two feet deep.  John showed signs of improvement on August 27, but they were short-lived.  John Francis Mottle: July 6, 1931 - September 3, 1947. *believed to be his correct name. 

B. G. Palmer (58), a long-time Southwick resident, once conducted a combined store and post office, something quite common back in the day. Later, he worked as a grocery clerk at C. A. Reed's store in Southwick (where Country Colonial Gift Shop is today). Several years back, B.G., or Goodman as he was sometimes known, found himself in poor health and, in great dismay, could no longer work. He lived with his two unmarried sisters, Dora and Laura Palmer, on what was then Main Street in the center of town. His sisters frequently checked on him as they did their best to care for their younger brother. Goodman's condition worsened. Following an operation sometime around 1898, he became despondent and could barely, if ever, leave the house. Around 3:00 a.m., on August 25, 1900, one of his sisters woke, and when she went to check on him, she found his room vacant. She noticed the doors leading from the passageway to the shed were open, so she went to investigate. She stepped...

Young Amasa Holcomb had felt something amiss when he returned to the seemingly empty house he shared with his parents: Henry and the former Miss Keturah Dibble. It was about five o'clock when the seven-year-old arrived home after school on Thursday, November 17, 1859. Amasa figured his parents were out visiting, so he walked to his uncle's house and spent the night there. The following morning, Amasa returned to the house, which still appeared empty. Having heard a faint noise coming from the cellar, he procured a light and went down to investigate. He found his mother weltered in blood as she lay on the floor in a corner opposite the stairway that led to the kitchen. On the back of her head, she had five-or-six wounds that oozed a jelly-like substance. Her left eye was blackened and badly bruised. A large oak scantling, probably from the potato bin, was found near her. It had bloody handprints on one end and pieces of her head on the other. It looked like she crawled all over ...