Editing Whately, Massachusetts (section)

==Geography==
[[Image:Whately Road Sign.JPG|thumb|left|Entering Whately – Franklin County]]
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|20.7|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|20.2|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|0.5|sqmi|km2}}, or 2.32%, is water.  Whately lies along the southern border of the county, north of [[Hampshire County, Massachusetts|Hampshire County]], and is bordered by [[Conway, Massachusetts|Conway]] to the northwest, [[Deerfield, Massachusetts|Deerfield]] to the northeast, [[Sunderland, Massachusetts|Sunderland]] to the east, [[Hatfield, Massachusetts|Hatfield]] to the south, and [[Williamsburg, Massachusetts|Williamsburg]] to the west.  Whately is located {{convert|11|mi}} south of [[Greenfield, Massachusetts|Greenfield]], {{convert|26|mi}} north of [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], and {{convert|95|mi}} west of [[Boston]].

Whately lies along the western banks of the [[Connecticut River]] in the [[Pioneer Valley]].  The western part of town is hilly, with the highest point being the {{convert|980|ft|adj=on}} Mount Esther.  East of the hills, the [[Mill River (Hatfield, Massachusetts)|Mill River]] flows through town, with some swampland to the east between it and the Great Swamp Brook, a tributary which meets in the town.  There is more marshy land in the southeast of town, closer to the Connecticut, and some small ponds between the two.  Much of the land around the two rivers is cleared for farmland.

Whately is crossed by [[Interstate 91]], which passes from north to south in the town, and is accessed at Exit 23 by [[U.S. Route 5 in Massachusetts|U.S. Route 5]] and the concurrently-running [[Massachusetts Route 10]].  The combined routes run roughly parallel to the interstate, crossing it twice in the town.  In the north of town, a short, 200-yard stretch of [[Massachusetts Route 116|Route 116]] follows the same road as Routes 5 & 10 before another 400-yard stretch heads east back into the town of Deerfield, a result of the realignment of the route due to the building of the interstate.  Whately shared the Pilgrim Airport, a small, general aviation airport, with neighboring Hatfield, but the field was closed and is currently used as farmland.  The nearest general aviation airport is [[Northampton Airport]], with the nearest national air service being at [[Bradley International Airport]] in [[Windsor Locks, Connecticut]].