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Westfield, Massachusetts

Westfield, Massachusetts
City
Downtown Westfield and Park Square.
Downtown Westfield and Park Square.
Flag of Westfield, Massachusetts
Flag
Official seal of Westfield, Massachusetts
Seal
Nickname(s): The Whip City, Bestfield
Motto: "Community Driven"
Location in Hampden County in Massachusetts
Location in Hampden County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°07′30″N 72°45′00″W / 42.12500°N 72.75000°W / 42.12500; -72.75000Coordinates: 42°07′30″N 72°45′00″W / 42.12500°N 72.75000°W / 42.12500; -72.75000
Country United States
State Massachusetts
County Hampden
Settled 1660
Incorporated (town) May 19, 1669
Incorporated (city) November 2, 1920
Government
 • Type Mayor-council city
 • Mayor Brian Sullivan
Area
 • Total 47.3 sq mi (122.6 km2)
 • Land 46.6 sq mi (120.6 km2)
 • Water 0.7 sq mi (1.9 km2)  1.56%
Elevation 148 ft (45 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 41,094
 • Density 881.8/sq mi (340.7/km2)
Time zone Eastern (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 01085, 01086
Area code(s) 413 Exchanges: 562,564,568,572
FIPS code 25-76030
GNIS feature ID 0608962
Website www.cityofwestfield.org

Westfield is a city in Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 41,094 at the 2010 census.

The area was originally inhabited by the Pocomtuc tribe, and was called Woronoco (meaning "the winding land"). Trading houses were built in 1639–40 by settlers from the Connecticut Colony. Massachusetts asserted jurisdiction, and prevailed after a boundary survey. In 1647, Massachusetts made Woronoco part of Springfield, Massachusetts. Land was incrementally purchased from the Native Americans and granted by the Springfield town meeting to English settlers, beginning in 1658. The area of Woronoco or "Streamfield" began to be permanently settled in the 1660s. In 1669, "Westfield" was incorporated as an independent town; in 1920, it would be re-incorporated as a city.

From its founding until 1725, Westfield was the westernmost settlement in Massachusetts Colony, and portions of it fell within the Equivalent lands. Town meetings were held in a church meeting house until 1839, when Town Hall was erected on Broad Street. This building also served as City Hall from 1920 to 1958. Due to its alluvial lands, the inhabitants of this area were entirely devoted to agricultural pursuits for about 150 years.

Early in the 19th century, manufacture of bricks, whips, and cigars became economically important. At one point in the 19th century, Westfield was a prominent center of the buggy whip industry, and the city is still known as the "Whip City." Other firms produced bicycles, paper products, pipe organs, boilers and radiators, textile machinery, abrasives, wood products, and precision tools. Westfield transformed itself from an agricultural town into a thriving industrial city in the 19th century, but in the second half of the 20th century its manufacturing base was eroded by wage competition in the U.S. Southeast, then overseas.


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