Holyoke, Mass.

Holyoke, Massachusetts
City
City of Holyoke
North High Street
Flag Seal Logo
Nickname(s): The Paper City Birthplace of Volleyball The Venice of America
Motto(s): Industria et Copia (Latin) "Industry and Abundance"
Location in Hampden County in Massachusetts
Holyoke, Massachusetts Location in the United States
Coordinates: 42°12′15″N 72°37′00″W / 42.20417°N 72.61667°W / 42.20417; -72.61667Coordinates: 42°12′15″N 72°37′00″W / 42.20417°N 72.61667°W / 42.20417; -72.61667
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Hampden
Settled	1655
Incorporated (parish)	July 7, 1786
Incorporated (town)	March 14, 1850
Incorporated (city)	April 7, 1873
Founded by	George C. Ewing Boston Associates
Named for	Elizur Holyoke
Government
• Type	Mayor-council city
• Mayor	Alex B. Morse
Area
• Total	22.8 sq mi (59.1 km2)
• Land	21.3 sq mi (55.1 km2)
• Water	1.5 sq mi (4.0 km2)
Elevation	200 ft (60 m)
Highest elevation (Mount Tom)	1,202 ft (366 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	39,880
• Estimate (2016)	40,280
• Density	1,874/sq mi (723.6/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01040, 01041 (P.O.)
Area code(s)	413
FIPS code	25-30840
GNIS feature ID	0617679
Website	www.holyoke.org

Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 39,880. As of 2016, the estimated population was 40,280. Sitting 8 miles (13 km) north of Springfield, Holyoke is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Area, one of the two distinct metropolitan areas in Massachusetts.

During the 19th century the city produced an estimated 80% of the writing paper used in the United States and was home to the largest paper and alpaca wool mills in the world. Although a considerably smaller number of businesses in Holyoke still work in the paper industry today, it is still commonly referred to as "The Paper City". Holyoke is also home to the Volleyball Hall of Fame and known as the "Birthplace of Volleyball", as the internationally played Olympic sport was invented and first played at the local YMCA chapter by William G. Morgan in 1895.

Powered by a series of municipally-owned canals, between 85% and 90% of Holyoke's energy was carbon neutral as of 2016, with administrative goals in place to reach 100% in the immediate future.

Englishmen first arrived in the Connecticut River Valley in 1633—a post was established at Windsor, Connecticut, by traders from the Plymouth Plantation. In 1636, Massachusetts Bay Colony assistant treasurer and Puritan iconoclast William Pynchon led a group of settlers from Roxbury, Massachusetts, to establish Springfield on land that scouts had vetted the previous year. They considered it the most advantageous land in the Connecticut River Valley for farming and trading. This settlement, on fertile farmland just north of the Connecticut River's first major falls (at Enfield Falls), the place where seagoing vessels necessarily had to transfer their cargo into smaller shallops to continue northward on the Connecticut River, quickly became a successful settlement—largely due to its advantageous position on the Bay Path to Boston, the Massachusetts Path to Albany, and beside the Connecticut River. Originally, Springfield spanned both sides of the Connecticut River; the region was eventually partitioned. The land on the western bank of the Connecticut River became West Springfield, Massachusetts. West Springfield's northernmost parish (alternately called Third Parish, North Parish, or Ireland Parish) became Holyoke, named after earlier Springfield settler William Pynchon's son-in-law, Elizur Holyoke, who had first explored the area in the 1650s. The area, previously allotted to landowners on the east side of the river in Springfield, had been settled by colonists by 1655. Holyoke as a geographic entity was initially incorporated as a parish; the 3rd Parish of West Springfield, otherwise known as "Ireland" or "Ireland Parish" was first incorporated on July 7, 1786. Following land acquisitions and development by the Hadley Falls Company, the town of Holyoke was officially incorporated on March 14, 1850. The first official town meeting took place a week later, on March 22, 1850.