Mount Tom (Massachusetts)
| Mount Tom | |
|---|---|
1865 painting by Thomas Charles Farrer (1839–1891), oil on canvas
|
|
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,202 ft (366 m) |
| Coordinates | 42°14′30″N 72°38′53″W / 42.24167°N 72.64806°WCoordinates: 42°14′30″N 72°38′53″W / 42.24167°N 72.64806°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Holyoke and Easthampton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Parent range | Mount Tom Range / Metacomet Ridge |
| Geology | |
| Age of rock | 200 Ma |
| Mountain type | Fault-block; igneous |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Metacomet-Monadnock Trail |
Mount Tom, 1,202 feet (366 m), is a steep, rugged traprock mountain peak on the west bank of the Connecticut River 4.5 miles (7 km) northwest of downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts. The mountain is the southernmost and highest peak of the Mount Tom Range and the highest traprock peak of the 100-mile (160 km) long Metacomet Ridge. A popular outdoor recreation resource, the mountain is known for its continuous line of cliffs and talus slopes visible from the south and west, its dramatic 1,100-foot (340 m) rise over the surrounding Connecticut River Valley, and its rare plant communities and microclimate ecosystems.
Located in Easthampton and Holyoke, Mount Tom is traversed by the 110-mile (180 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and is the transmitter location for three Springfield–Holyoke television stations: WGBY, WGGB, and WSHM-LD, and for radio stations WHYN-FM and WVEI-FM. The name "Mount Tom" is sometimes used to describe the entire Mount Tom Range.
According to popular folklore, Mount Tom takes its name from Rowland Thomas, a surveyor who worked for the settlement of Springfield, Massachusetts in the 1660s. Thomas supposedly named Mount Tom after himself while his fellow surveyor working on the opposite side of the Connecticut River, Elizur Holyoke, gave his name to Mount Holyoke.
The Mount Tom Hotel was constructed on the summit of Mount Tom in 1897, but it burned down three years later. Subsequently rebuilt, it burned again in 1929 and was never rebuilt; in 1902 the property became the first parcel to become the Mount Tom State Reservation. Ruins of the old hotel foundations are still visible today. In 1933 the Civilian Conservation Corps assisted with the construction of reservation structures and park roads; their work also remains visible today.
...
Wikipedia