Chicopee Manufacturing

The City of Chicopee is no stranger to Americas dynamic economic cycles. As, a place of profit where people made things, several well-known American companies located facilities within the Citys three original villages of Chicopee Falls, Cabotville and Willimansett. At the height of production, manufacturing entities in Chicopee Falls along with co... unterparts in Cabotville and Willimansett employed some 7,000 area residents in the production of a diverse array of products from armaments and tools to tires and bicycles. Through the late 20th century, Chicopee Falls would thrive as a major component of Chicopees economic and industrial backbone. Today, as the City plans for the redevelopment of the RiverMills property, the legacy of a long industrial history remains a defining element of Chicopees contemporary character. Chicopee Falls evolution as an industrial center in western Massachusetts can be traced back to the areas first European settlers. During the early 1600s, the Connecticut River Valley was considered the first frontier of New England when the first European settlers arrived during the 1630s. William Pynchon, a businessman from Roxbury, Massachusetts is credited as one of the first settlers, when he and his associates purchased lands from the Pequot Indian tribe and established Springfield, a trading post to partake of the regions fur trade. Less than four years after Pynchons arrival, settlers moved into the frontier again and settled what was then known as the North Springfield district present-day Chicopee. Two settlements on the banks of the Chicopee River are documented, one at Skeepmuch and the other at Chikkuppy rivers mouth, both on the south side of the river. These villages would be known as Chicopee Falls and Cabotville (Chicopee Center), respectively. A third settlement, Willimansett, was established north of the Chicopee River. The Chapin brothers, in 1675, were the first documented settlers having permanent residence within the boundaries of Chicopee. By 1687, a saw mill was ...Read More