Colrain, Massachusetts
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| Colrain, Massachusetts | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Franklin County |
| Settled | 1735 |
| Incorporated | 1761 |
| Government | |
| - Type | Open town meeting |
| Area | |
| - Town | 43.5 sq mi (112.5 km²) |
| - Land | 43.4 sq mi (112.4 km²) |
| - Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km²) |
| Elevation | 633 ft (193 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Town | 1,813 |
| - Density | 41.8/sq mi (16.1/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 01340 |
| Area code(s) | 413 |
Colrain is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2000 census.
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[edit] History
Colrain was first settled in 1735 as "Boston Township No. 2", organized into an independently governing town body in 1745, and was officially incorporated on June 30th, 1761.
Although originally named Colrain in 1745, and officially incorporated under that name in 1761, the town spelled its name (and appeared on maps) as "Colraine" for over 112 years until in 1873 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts insisted that the town begin to spell its name as it was officially incorporated.
Colrain has six historic village areas: Elm Grove, Lyonsville, Foundry Village, Shattuckville, Griswoldville, Colrain City, Catamount Hill, Stewartville, Gimletville. Much of the town's land area lies outside of these villages.
Colrain City (which constitutes the town center), was originally named as a joke during the mid 19th-century, since the small village was clearly anything but a city. Located in the valley at the base of Chandler Hill, a contemporary satirical poem suggested that the inexplicable grouping of houses was populated by people who had failed to climb the road leading over the hill. The center has remained almost completely unchanged over the last 150 years, and was declared a state historic district in 2006.
Colrain was the first town in the United States to fly the U.S. flag over a public schoolhouse in May of 1812. The schoolhouse was located in the hill-top village of Catamount.
Many of the original settlers were immigrants from Ireland and Scotland, and it is said that the town was named in honor of Lord Coleraine, an Irish peer. According to local tradition, Lord Coleraine was so well pleased by this that he sent a fine bell to the townspeople for their new meeting house. Unfortunately, the bell never arrived. Apparently, so the story goes, it was sold by the unscrupulous agent to whom it was entrusted, and was installed in a church in Boston. It is also said that when in transit, the crew of the ship encountered a problem and the ship went down with the bell and was never to be found again.
During the period of King George's War, Colrain was an active military front. Colrain was home to four forts at this time: Fort Morrison (also called "North Fort"), Fort Morris (also called "South Fort"), Fort Lucas (built near the town meeting house on Chandler Hill), and Rev. McDowell's Fort (a private fort built by Rev. Alexander McDowell which included his home). All of these were pallisaded garrison houses, and were used as protection against frequent Indian attacks. Forts Lucas and Morrison were garrisoned during the war by the Massachusetts colonial militia, and there is also some evidence that British royal troops used Fort Morrison briefly. After King George's War, colonial troops were withdrawn and the forts were used for local defense until the outbreak of the Seven Years' War in 1754, when the forts were renovated and garrisons of colonial militia were once again installed at Forts Lucas and Morrison, where they would remain for the duration of the 9 year war. This was a source of considerable irritation for the townspeople, who were obligated to house the garrison troops in their homes. At the close of the Seven Years' War in 1763, colonial militia troops were permanently withdrawn, and the era of Colrain's military significance drew to a close. With the end of the French and Indian Wars the danger of Indian attacks was greatly lessened, and the forts were abandoned by the end of the 1760s.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 112.5 km² (43.5 mi²). 112.4 km² (43.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.16%) is water.
Colrain is one of the largest towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with one of the smallest population densities.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 1,813 people, 686 households, and 478 families residing in the town. The population density was 16.1/km² (41.8/mi²). There were 776 housing units at an average density of 6.9/km² (17.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.65% White, 0.33% Asian, 0.00% Black 0.11% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.99% of the population.
There were 686 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.3% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the town the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,076, and the median income for a family was $46,518. Males had a median income of $32,800 versus $24,125 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,948. About 4.6% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Notable residents
- William Apes, Native American writer, preacher, and politician[1]
- Joseph Denison, first President of Kansas State University, abolitionist minister
[edit] References
- ^ (1963) Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Marquis Who's Who.
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
