The Big E Hits the Big 100

 For Hampden County residents, fall has become associated with everyone’s favorite source of cream puffs and traffic jams: the Big E. Each September, millions flock to the Eastern States Exposition for the fifth-largest state fair in the country, and this year marks the fair’s centennial celebration.

The Eastern States Exposition, West Springfield’s home of the Big E, launched in the early 20^th century in response to the regional decline in farming activity. Joshua L. Brooks purchased the 175 acres of swampland with the goal of inspiring and supporting farmers and revitalizing the agricultural economy.

The Expo’s first event was the National Dairy Show, held in 1916. Until that year, the event had been held annually in the Midwest, and the proposal of hosting it in West Springfield was originally rejected by the directors, on the assumption that the region’s small farming community wouldn’t attract a significant audience. Eventually, the directors conceded to Brooks’ persuasion, and 45,000 people attended the event. Brooks’ actions spearheaded the “Eastern States Movement,” which sought to revitalize the region’s agricultural economy.

 

The primary autumn events of the Eastern States Exposition, named the “Big E” in 1967, first opened to the public in 1917. This tradition has grown in popularity over the years and endured as a beloved New England tradition. It has been interrupted only by World War I and II, during which time the fairgrounds were requisitioned and used as supply depots for the military.

The Exposition fairgrounds now house over 25 buildings showcasing a variety of agricultural, commercial, and cultural products and demonstrations. Among these are the Coliseum, the Better Living Center, and buildings dedicated to each of the six New England states. The Big E is also home to the world’s largest traveling midway, with more food, shopping, entertainment, and ride offerings than any other fair of its kind.

Apart from the Big E, the Exposition fairgrounds host a number of agricultural and cultural events throughout the year, including the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show, the Big East and the Fiber Festival of New England. The fairgrounds are also home to the historic Storrowton Village.

This year, the Eastern States Exposition celebrates its 100^th anniversary with a special 3,500 square foot exhibit dedicated to the memories collected over the fair’s century of history. 

WBZ (AM) and Hotel Kimball

Springfield is home to many firsts, including the first commercial radio station. WBZ was established in 1921 and based in the Hotel Kimball in Metro Center's Apremont Triangle Historic District. Though there were several other stations across the country at the time, WBZ was the first to specify broadcasts on 360 meters (833 kilohertz) and the first to be issued a commercial broadcasting license. 

Postcard from Hotel Kimball

WBZ aired their first broadcast remotely on September 19, 1921 from the Eastern States Exposition. The inaugural broadcast featured speeches from former Massachusetts Governor Channing H. Cox and former Connecticut Governor Everett J. Lake. 

For the rest of the 1920s, WBZ broadcast a varied lineup out of Hotel Kimball, including farm reports, baseball scores, college lectures, and live classical and opera music. Though Springfield wasn’t a major city at the time, the station hosted several famous guests. Acclaimed contralto Madame Louise Homer gave several live opera performances at the station. Jacques N. Cartier of CKAC Radio in Montreal also joined WBZ for one of the first bilingual French-English broadcasts in history. 

Broadcasting from WBZ

Special programming throughout the decade included the 1923 World Series and the 1925 inauguration of President Calvin Coolidge. The station also offered a series of radio extension courses, through which listeners could receive college credit from the Massachusetts State Department of Education. 

Due to its popularity and the desire to reach a larger market, WBZ swapped stations with the Boston-based WBZA in 1931. Though WBZA was shut down in 1962, WBZ continues broadcasting to this day under CBS. It remains the oldest surviving commercial radio station in New England. 

Hotel Kimball, the famous site of WBZ’s earliest broadcasts, was critically acclaimed since opening in 1911, with a widespread reputation as “the leading hotel in Western Massachusetts.” It earned accolades from the media and distinguished guests alike. The hotel hosted many dignitaries over the years, including Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The New York Times described the hotel as “ranking with the finest [hotels] in the country. A magnificent hotel, modern and metropolitan in every appointment.” 

The Springfield Republican described the building as “representing an outlay of approximately $1,000,000, the Kimball stands as an example of all the latest ideas in hotel evolution….Everywhere there is splendor, yet it is splendor with refinement.” It was recognized by the National Register of Historic Places and spared demolition in 1983, instead sold to a pair of condominium developers and converted into the present-day Kimball Towers. 

Hotel Kimball is also the setting of author Bradley Latham’s novel, “Haunted Hotel.”  

Hotel Kimball was sold in 1983 and stands 

today as Kimball Towers Condominiums

The Springfield Armory, The First And Last National U.S. Armory

  Original Springfield Armory Building

The Third Continental Congress established the Springfield Armory on April 2, 1794 and this became the birthplace of the small arms industry in the United States. However, the Springfield Armory was also active during the Revolutionary War. In 1777 a barn was rented for the repair of arms. In 1778 buildings were rented on Main and Cypress Streets for the manufacture of paper cartridges for muskets with the powder mill located on the Mill River. Upon recommendation of General Henry Knox, Springfield was chosen as the site for the National Armory. General George Washington chose Springfield even though the Congress had voted Brookfield, Massachusetts as the ideal site.

Throughout its 174-year operation, Armory weapons influenced battlefield tactics and wartime strategy in all major conflicts throughout U.S. history. Armory inventions and industrial processes revolutionized American manufacturing and helped launch the Industrial Revolution. Located in the heart of Springfield, Massachusetts on the former Armory site which also now houses Springfield Technical Community College, the Museum displays one of the largest (over 20,000) collections of small firearms in the world along with some of the machines used to manufacture these firearms.

Springfield Armory Emblem

Springfield Model 1817 Type 1 Flintlock Pistol

The U.S. Model 1795 Musket, a Flint Lock, was the first official U.S. weapon and the first Springfield weapon produced. The fine craftsmanship and engineering of the Springfield workforce were consistent through its history. Thomas Blanchard and his Blanchard lathe in 1819 are a classic example. Its creation later played a great part in the development of interchangeable parts. Probably the most noted of recent employees of the Armory was John C. Garand. In 1936 Garand submitted a design accepted by the Government for the first semi-automatic rifle. His design came after approximately twenty years of successful research, experimentation and testing across the country. General George S. Patton, Jr. reported to the Ordinance Department on January 26, 1945: “In my opinion, the M1 Rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised. In the face of overwhelming odds, the capability of the M1 rifle to deliver superior firepower would most often carry the day." The last small arm developed by the Armory was the M14. The M14 has evolved over the years into a more modern sniping rifle, the M21.

The M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle

Perhaps less appreciated is the Springfield Armory's central role in the industrialization of America and the acceleration of the pace of technology's influence in our everyday lives. Philosophically, it also represents the vexing irony that the economic drivers of war may inevitably have lead to dramatic advances during peacetime that both vastly improved the quality of human life and fueled a regional economy that went on to sustain legions of skilled workers and their families. The Armory was responsible for crucial advances in machining processes and equipment such as lathes and die-cutters that made it a formenter of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.

Current Springfield Armory Building

Hampden County - 200th Birthday

Hampden County Massachusetts celebrates it's 200th anniversary August 1, 2012.  It was created by an Act of Congress on February 25, 1912 and became effective August 1, 1812. 

Prior to its incorporation, Hampden County had been part of Hampshire County since 1662, of which the three original towns were Springfield (1641) purchased from the Agawam Indians in 1636, Northampton or Nonotuck (1653) and Hadley (1659).  Westfield, formerly Woronoco, was annexed in 1647 and became a town in 1669.  Massachusetts Bay Colony organized counties in 1643.  Earlier areas were vast territories, called 'civil divisions'.

 

On April 2, 1663, a Hampshire County Committee was formed.  The members were Captain John Pynchon, Henry Clarke, Captain Aaron Cook, Lieutenant  David Milton and Elizur Holyoke.  They conducted all of the legal business of the county including maintaining the land records.  Meetings were held March 1st annually and alternated between Northampton and Springfield.  The book of court records was transported between the two locations.

Springfield's population grew from 1790, pop. 1,574, to 1810, pop. 2,767.  The City was represented in the State Senate by Moses Chapin, Jacob Bliss, Oliver B. Morris and Edmund Dwight. This growth indicated the economic dominance taking place in Springfield and thus the Massachusetts congress created Hampden County in 1812.

The original members of the Hampden County Committee in 1812 were George Bliss, John Hooker and John Ingersoll.  On November 12, 1812 they made an agreement of Settlement between Hampden and Hampshire Counties.  The Committee from Hampshire County included Joseph Lyman, Thomas Shepard and Daniel Wright.  This document can be found in Court of Sessions Record Book 1, pages 5-6 located in the Archives of the Hampden County Registry of Deeds.  A typed version of this document is available.

Edward Pynchon, a descendant of the founder of Springfield, William Pynchon served as the first Register of Deeds of  Hampden County in 1812.  Two hundred years later, the governing body of the county, the commission, is no longer in existence.  However, Hampden County is a geographical entity within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with Donald E. Ashe serving as guardian of the real estate records as Register of Deeds.