Editing Hadley, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==

===Early===
Hadley was first settled in 1659 and was officially incorporated in 1661. The former Norwottuck was renamed for [[Hadleigh, Suffolk]].<ref>Sylvester Judd, ''History of Hadley Including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts'' (Northampton: Metcalf, 1863), p. 25. "It may be conjectured that some of the first planters of Hadley came from the town of the same name in England. No record remains to show who they were. The name in the town and county records is sometimes written Hadleigh." -p. 26.</ref> Its settlers were primarily a discontented group of families from the [[Puritan]] colonies of [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]] and [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]], [[Connecticut]], who petitioned to start a new colony up north after some controversy over doctrine in the local church. The settlement was led by [[John Russell (clergyman)|John Russell]]. The first settler inside of Hadley was [[Nathaniel Dickinson (pioneer)|Nathaniel Dickinson]], who surveyed the streets of what is now Hadley, [[Hatfield, Massachusetts|Hatfield]], and [[Amherst, Massachusetts|Amherst]]. At the time, Hadley encompassed a wide radius of land on both sides of the [[Connecticut River]] (but mostly on the eastern shore) including much of what would become known as the [[Equivalent Lands]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Nw4wi4igtLAC|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Nw4wi4igtLAC/page/n151 137]|quote=equivalent lands.|title=Vermont: The Green Mountain State|first=Walter Hill|last=Crockett|date=January 1, 1921|publisher=Century history Company, Incorporated|access-date=October 30, 2016|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In the following century, these were broken off into precincts and eventually the separate towns of Hatfield, Amherst, [[South Hadley, Massachusetts|South Hadley]], [[Granby, Massachusetts|Granby]] and [[Belchertown, Massachusetts|Belchertown]]. The early histories of these towns are, as a result, filed under the history of Hadley.

Lt. Gen. [[Edward Whalley]] and Maj. Gen. [[William Goffe]], two Puritan generals hunted for their role in the execution (or "[[Regicide#Execution of Charles I of England|regicide]]") of [[Charles I of England]], were hidden<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~mikegoad/html/hadley__mass.htm|title=Hadley, Mass|first=Mike|last=Goad|access-date=October 30, 2016}}</ref> in the home of the town's minister, John Russell. During [[King Philip's War]], an attack by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] was, by some accounts, thwarted with the aid of General Goffe. This event, compounded by the reluctance of the townsfolk to betray Goffe's location, developed into the legend of the [[Angel of Hadley]], which came to be included in the historical manuscript ''History of Hadley'' by [[Sylvester Judd]].<ref name="judd">Judd, Sylvester. ''History of Hadley Including the Early History of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts.'' H.R. Huntting (1905), pp. 137–39.</ref>

In 1683, eleven years before the [[Salem witch trials]], [[Mary Webster (alleged witch)|Mary Webster]], wife to William Webster son of the former governor of Connecticut and a founder of the very town of Hadley ([[John Webster (governor)|John Webster]]), was accused and acquitted of witchcraft. She was unsuccessfully hanged by rowdy town folk.<ref>Taft Bayne, Julia. "[http://www.hampshirecountyhistory.com/hadley/mollywebster.html Molly Webster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111092926/http://www.hampshirecountyhistory.com/hadley/mollywebster.html |date=2007-01-11 }}". ''New England Magazine'', 1893.</ref> A description is given in Cotton Mather's ''[[Magnalia Christi Americana]]''.

The [[American Civil War|Civil War]] general [[Joseph Hooker]] was a longtime resident of Hadley. [[Levi Stockbridge]], one of the founders of the [[Massachusetts Agricultural College]] (now the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]]), was also from Hadley where he was a farmer.

=== Recent ===
Hadley's transformation from an old agricultural order to the new form is the direct result of expansion of the nearby [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] during the 1960s. Much of its former farmland was swallowed in the housing market stimulated by incoming faculty and off-campus students. [[Massachusetts Route 116|Route 116]] was redirected in an attempt to solve traffic congestion. [[Massachusetts Route 9|Route 9]], which runs east–west through the town to connect Amherst and [[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton]], became a hotpoint for commercial development due to Amherst not wanting development on its land while large corporations opened stores along the strip. Today, the Hadley economy is a mixture of agriculture and commercial development, including big-box stores and the [[Hampshire Mall]]. 

In 2003, an organization called Hadley Neighbors for Sensible Development<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.HadleyNeighbors.org|title=Hadley Neighbors for Sensible Development|access-date=October 30, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060709203740/http://www.hadleyneighbors.org/|archive-date=July 9, 2006}}</ref> was formed that opposed continued large-scale commercial development in Hadley by emphasizing the downside of such growth. However, many local residents support commercial development, and about 1,000 people signed a petition asking for a new Wal-Mart, saying it would save them money on their groceries.<ref>Lederman, Diane. "[http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1178179295236760.xml&coll=1 Wal-Mart plan meets opposition]". ''[[The Republican (Springfield)|The Republican]]'', May 3, 2007.</ref> In 2008, Wal-Mart pulled its plans to build the Supercenter after the Conservation Commission ruled that the plan did not comply with wetlands regulations. The developer of the site (Hampshire Mall) filed and lost numerous appeals but continued its legal challenges of the commission's findings.<ref>''Daily Hampshire Gazette'', March 11, 2008, "Wal-Mart said to drop plan for Hadley Store"</ref> Many residents also opposed rezoning to accommodate a new Lowe's store because they said it would be too big and would require more filling of [[wetland]]s than allowed by state law. However, the rezoning passed in 2004 and the store was built in 2009. Lowe's then sued the town because it didn't want to pay the required sewer hookup fees. And, in 2010, the [[Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection]] found that Lowe's had illegally filled large areas of wetlands on that site and fined the developer more than $15,000.<ref>''Daily Hampshire Gazette'', Tuesday, May 18, 2010, "Lowe's contractor, developer hit with DEP fines for wetlands violations"</ref>

The [[World Monuments Fund]] listed the "Cultural Landscape of Hadley, Massachusetts" on the [[2010 World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites]].

{{blockquote|text=Watch listing seeks to raise awareness about this rare survivor of 17th-century agriculture, promote visitation, and engage the local community in its stewardship.|source=World Monuments Fund<ref name=WMF />}}

The landscape of Hadley is largely [[open field system|open-field farming]], which was only used in the earliest [[New England]] settlements and had mostly disappeared by the 18th century; its survival in Hadley on such a large scale is unusual. According to the World Monument Fund {{convert|165|acre|km2}} are zoned for residential and commercial use, providing no long-term protection for the historic landscape.<ref name=WMF>[http://www.wmf.org/project/cultural-landscape-hadley-massachusetts Cultural Landscape of Hadley, Massachusetts]. [[World Monuments Fund]].</ref>