Editing Huntington, Massachusetts

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name            = Huntington
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = 
| image_skyline            = Huntington Country Store, Huntington MA.jpg
| imagesize                = 250px
| image_caption            = Former Huntington Country Store
| image_seal               = Seal of Huntington, Massachusetts.png
| image_flag               = Flag of Huntington, Massachusetts.png
| image_map                = Hampshire County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Huntington highlighted.svg
| mapsize                  = 250px
| map_caption              = Location in Hampshire County in Massachusetts
| subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name         = United States
| subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Massachusetts]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Massachusetts|County]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Hampshire County, Massachusetts|Hampshire]]
| established_title        = Settled
| established_date         = 1769
| established_title2       = Incorporated (Norwich)
| established_date2        = 1775
| established_title3       = Incorporated (Huntington)
| established_date3        = March 5, 1855
| government_type          = [[Open town meeting]]
| leader_title             = <!--[[Administrative Assistant]]-->
| leader_name              = 
| leader_title1            = <!--Board of <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Selectmen-->
| leader_name1             = 
| area_total_km2           = 69.4
| area_land_km2            = 68.2
| area_water_km2           = 1.2
| population_as_of         = 2020
| settlement_type          = [[New England town|Town]]
| population_total         = 2094
| population_density_km2   = auto
| elevation_m              = 116
| elevation_ft             = 382
| timezone                 = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
| utc_offset               = −5
| timezone_DST             = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
| utc_offset_DST           = −4
| coordinates              = {{Coord|42|14|10|N|72|52|35|W|region:US-MA_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]
| postal_code              = 01050
| area_code                = [[Area code 413|413]]
| blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info               = 25-31785
| blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info              = 0618203
| website                  = {{URL|www.huntingtonma.us}}
| footnotes                = 
}}

'''Huntington''' is a [[New England town|town]] in [[Hampshire County, Massachusetts|Hampshire County]], [[Massachusetts]], United States. The population was 2,094 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref name="Census 2020">{{cite web| url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0600000US2501531785| title=Census - Geography Profile: Huntington town, Hampshire County, Massachusetts| publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]| access-date=November 14, 2021}}</ref> It is part of the [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] [[Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts|Metropolitan Statistical Area]].

The main [[Huntington (CDP), Massachusetts|village of Huntington]] is in the south of the town, with the villages of Norwich<ref>[https://greenerpasture.com/Places/ShowNews/25332 ]</ref> and Norwich Bridge in the center. (The villages are unofficial neighborhoods representing clusters of buildings in an otherwise rural town.)

The villages of Knightville (or Knightsville) and Indian Hollow toward the north were removed by the construction of the [[Knightville Dam]] from 1939 to 1941.<ref>[https://www.thereminder.com/localnews/hilltowns/images-show-forgotten-valley-life-before-knightvil/ Images show ‘forgotten valley’ life before Knightville Dam]</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Huntington, Mass. (2674477708).jpg|thumb|left|Print of Huntington by [[L.R. Burleigh]] from 1886 with listing of sights]]

What is now Huntington was first settled by Europeans in 1760, mostly migrants from [[Norwich, Connecticut]] who logged the land's valuable timber.<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|9}} Settlers were mainly subsistence farmers, who also raised animals, caught fish, tapped maple trees, and manufactured their own domestic goods.<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|17–19}} Most of what is now the towns of Huntington and [[Chester, Massachusetts|Chester]] were sold at auction (along with other parcels) on June 2, 1762, as Plantation Number 9, to William Williams for £1,500.<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|7}} It was resold, and the three new proprietors allowed the 19 existing settlers to remain on the condition they build houses, clear land, and hire a Protestant minister.<ref name="Souvenir" />

On June 29, 1773, the eastern portion of the town of Murrayfield (renamed [[Chester, Massachusetts|Chester]] in 1783) was split off to form the district of Norwich, with most of the powers of a town.<ref name="Bisbee">{{cite web |url=https://www.huntingtonma.us/media/566 |author=Rev. J. H. Bisbee |date=December 1876 |title=History of Huntington}}</ref>{{rp|7}} It shared a colonial representative with Chester until 1786, when it became a full town.

Early industry grew slowly.<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|17–19}}  Just before 1800, Daniel and Richard Falley opened a tavern (which also functioned as a hotel) and store<ref name="Caron" />{{rp|12}} near the three-way boundary of Norwich, Blandford, and Chester, which was also the boundary between [[Hampshire County, Massachusetts|Hampshire]] and [[Hampden County, Massachusetts|Hampden]] Counties. A post office opened nearby, on the Boston-Springfield-Albany [[stagecoach]] line; the neighborhood and the post office were named "Falleys' Cross road" or "Falley's X Roads".<ref name="Souvenir" /><ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|13}}  In 1841, the Western Railroad (later part of the [[Boston and Albany Railroad]]) was constructed, drawing settlers and enabling profitable manufacturing to the vicinity of the stop, known as Chester Village to distinguish from the Chester Factories stop.<ref name="Souvenir">{{cite web |url=https://www.huntingtonma.us/media/576 |title=Souvenir Program from Dedication of Robert Packer Cross Memorial Bridge |date=June 22, 1941 |author=General Committee}}</ref><ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|13}}  The post office and the neighborhood soon became known as Chester Village.<ref name="Caron" />{{rp|12}}

Jurisdictional boundaries split streets and in some cases houses, causing problems with transportation of school children and law enforcement.<ref name="Caron">{{cite web |url=https://www.huntingtonma.us/media/571 |title=Historical Review |author=Mrs. Edward W. Caron |date=July 1955 |publisher=Town of Huntington (Centennial Celebration Program)}}</ref> The nearby parts of Blandford and Chester were annexed to Norwich in 1853.<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|8}} In 1855, the Massachusetts General Court changed the name of the town to Huntington, in honor of Charles P. Huntington of [[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton]], who had helped secure the annexation.<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|8}} Chester Village then became known as "the village" of Huntington. Charles Huntington donated $100 for the establishment of a library in his namesake town.<ref name="Caron" />{{rp|12}}

In the Colonial Massachusetts tradition, Norwich initially functioned as both a secular town government and a church parish. Its town meetings were held at the town church ("meeting-hall") until 1841; a town hall was constructed in Knightville in 1842.<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|12}} Town meetings were held at a private Union Hall above a schoolhouse in Huntington village in the 1860s; the building burned in 1863 but was replaced<ref name="Bisbee" />{{rp|12}} and the new building served as the town hall until 1954.<ref name="Caron" />{{rp|12}}

[[Springfield Street Railway]] was extended to the town in 1905, and another trolley line operated to the town of [[Lee, Massachusetts|Lee]] for a time. [[U.S. Route 20 in Massachusetts|U.S. Route 20]] was constructed through the town in 1920.<ref name="Caron" />{{rp|22–23}}

The Huntington Textile Company supplied cloth to the U.S. military during the World Wars, but closed in 1952.<ref name="Caron" />{{rp|16}}

==Geography==
Huntington is in southwestern Hampshire County, bordered to the south and west by towns in [[Hampden County, Massachusetts|Hampden County]]. The [[Westfield River]] runs through the town, joined by its West Branch at the village of [[Huntington (CDP), Massachusetts|Huntington]] in the southern part of the town. [[U.S. Route 20]] follows the lower Westfield River and its West Branch through the town, leading southeast {{convert|12|mi}} to the city of [[Westfield, Massachusetts|Westfield]] and northwest {{convert|23|mi}} to [[Lee, Massachusetts|Lee]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town of Huntington has a total area of {{convert|69.4|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|68.2|km2|order=flip}} are land and {{convert|1.2|km2|order=flip}}, or 1.78%, are water.<ref name="Census 2010">{{cite web| url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/0600000US2501531785| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001): Huntington town, Hampshire County, Massachusetts| work=American Factfinder| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau| access-date=August 8, 2017| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213161640/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/0600000US2501531785| archive-date=February 13, 2020| url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations | type=USA | align=left | state=collapsed
 | 1860|1216
 | 1870|1156
 | 1880|1236
 | 1890|1385
 | 1900|1475
 | 1910|1473
 | 1920|1425
 | 1930|1242
 | 1940|1340
 | 1950|1257
 | 1960|1392
 | 1970|1593
 | 1980|1804
 | 1990|1987
 | 2000|2174
 | 2010|2180
 | 2020|2094
 | 2022*|2069
 | footnote=* = population estimate.  Source: [[United States Census]] records and [[Population Estimates Program]] data.<ref name="2010_Census">{{cite web | title=TOTAL POPULATION (P1), 2010 Census Summary File 1, All County Subdivisions within Massachusetts | publisher=United States Census Bureau | access-date=September 13, 2011 | url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P1/0400000US25.06000 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212202839/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/P1/0400000US25.06000 | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 12, 2020 }}</ref><ref name="2000-2009_PopulationEstimates">{{cite web|title=Massachusetts by Place and County Subdivision – GCT-T1. Population Estimates |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=July 12, 2011 |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US25&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-T1&-ds_name=PEP_2009_EST&-_lang=en&-format=ST-9&-_sse=on |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103061111/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US25&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-T1&-ds_name=PEP_2009_EST&-_lang=en&-format=ST-9&-_sse=on |archive-date=November 3, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="1990_Census">{{cite web|title=1990 Census of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts |id=1990 CP-1-23 |at=Table 76: General Characteristics of Persons, Households, and Families: 1990 |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=July 12, 2011 |date=December 1990 |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cp1/cp-1-23.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207032409/http://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cp1/cp-1-23.pdf |archive-date=December 7, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="1980_Census">{{cite web | title=1980 Census of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts | id=PC80-1-A23 | at=Table 4. Populations of County Subdivisions: 1960 to 1980 | publisher=US Census Bureau | access-date=July 12, 2011 |date=December 1981 | url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980a_maABC-01.pdf}}</ref><ref name="1950_Census">{{cite web | title=1950 Census of Population | volume=1: Number of Inhabitants | at=Section 6, Pages 21-10 and 21-11, Massachusetts Table 6. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1930 to 1950 | publisher=Bureau of the Census | access-date=July 12, 2011 | year=1952 | url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch06.pdf}}</ref><ref name="1920_Census">{{cite web | title=1920 Census of Population | at=Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920 | publisher=Bureau of the Census | access-date=July 12, 2011 | url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41084506no553ch2.pdf}}</ref><ref name="1890_Census">{{cite web | title=1890 Census of the Population | at=Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890 | publisher=Department of the Interior, Census Office | access-date=July 12, 2011 | url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41084506no553ch2.pdf}}</ref><ref name="1870_Census">{{cite web | title=1870 Census of the Population | at=Pages 217 through 220. Table IX. Population of Minor Civil Divisions, &c. Massachusetts | publisher=Department of the Interior, Census Office | access-date=July 12, 2011 | year=1872| url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870e-05.pdf}}</ref><ref name="1860_Census">{{cite web | title=1860 Census | at=Pages 220 through 226. State of Massachusetts Table No. 3. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. | publisher=Department of the Interior, Census Office | access-date=July 12, 2011 | year=1864 | url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860a-08.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020–2022| publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] | access-date=November 24, 2023 | url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html}}</ref>
}}

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 2,174 people, 809 households, and 597 families residing in the town.  The population density was {{convert|81.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 935 housing units at an average density of {{convert|35.1|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the town was 97.56% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.41% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.18% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.41% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.28% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.15% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.84% of the population.

There were 809 households, out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.4% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. Of all households, 19.2% were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $18,958, and the median income for a family was $12,308. Males had a median income of $16,893 versus $17,414 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $19,385.  About 74.4% of families and 75.8% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 36.2% of those under age 18 and 40.7% of those age 65 or over.

==See also==
{{Portal|United States}}
* [[Gateway Regional High School (Massachusetts)|Gateway Regional High School]]
* [[Gateway Regional School District (Massachusetts)|Gateway Regional School District]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.huntingtonma.us/ Town of Huntington official website]
* [http://www.huntingtonpd.com/ Huntington Police Department]
* [https://www.huntingtonma.us/historical-society Huntington Historical Society]
* [http://www.thehuntingtonpubliclibrary.org/huntingtonpubliclibrary/index.html Huntington Public Library]
* [http://www.grsd.org/ Gateway Regional School District]
* [http://www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc/mhcpdf/townreports/CT-Valley/hun.pdf ''MHC Survey Reconnaissance Town Report: Huntington'']—Massachusetts Historical Commission, 1982.
* [http://www.huntingtonma.org/varReports/huntington%20community%20development%20plan%20and%20vision.pdf ''Huntington Vision: Huntington Community Development Plan'']—Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, 2003.

{{Hampshire County, Massachusetts}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Towns in Hampshire County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Towns in Massachusetts]]