The Newton Smith Brook has two dams – the Stevens Dam and the Newton Dam. These form the Stevens Reservoir and the Newton Reservoir. The Stevens Reservoir is farther into the woods. It was a medium earthen dam that served the Stevens Paper Mill along the river. It is a breached dam. The Newton Reservoir along the highway is a medium sized earthen dam.
The Leaping Well Brook has 4 dams and hence 4 reservoirs – the Leaping Well Dam and the three Pond Street Dams. The Leaping Well Dam backs up the Leaping Well Reservoir. This dam is a large earthen dam. The three Pond Street Dams are numbered in sequence as the water flows as number 1 to number 3. These are three small concrete dams.
The Buttery Brook runs within South Hadley with many of its own tributaries. It is the most obvious brook in town but neither its longest nor most used. Buttery Brook Park is explain HERE.
| dam | reservoir | types | year | location |
| Titus Pond Dam | Titus Pond | small earthen dam | on tiny tributary of brook | |
| Hillcrest Dam | Hillcrest Pond | small concrete and large earthen dams | on Buttery Brook Tributary | |
| Smith Dam | Smith Reservoir | on brook | ||
| Buttery Brook Park Dam 1 | Buttery Brook Park Reservoir 1 | medium concrete dam | on Buttery Brook Tributary | |
| Buttery Brook Park Dam 2 | Buttery Brook Park Reservoir 2 | (GONE) | on Buttery Brook Tributary | |
| Granby Road Upramp Dam | Granby Road Reservoir | concrete and earthen (GONE) | on Buttery Brook Tributary |
The Batchelor Brook runs through Granby and South Hadley before discharging into the Connecticut. It is dammed only once within South Hadley and that is the Pearl City Dam making the Pearl City Reservoir. This is a small concrete dam. The Batchelor Brook is dammed twice more in Granby at Aldrich Lake and Forge Pond.
The Elmer Brook is a tributary of the Bachelor Brook. It has one dam – the Lithia Springs Dam and its reservoir. The dam is a medium sized concrete structure with a large earthen dam alongside.
Canonchet Park is to the west of the former West Street School.
In August of 1941 Canonchet Park was renamed Deroy Park to honor Narcisse Deroy. The Franco-American Club of Holyoke had asked that this renaming happen.
Narcisse Deroy lived most of his life in Holyoke. He was born in Quebec Canada but came with his family to Holyoke at a young age. Narcisse died during the course of WW1 in France. FINDAGRAVE
Sanborn 1949 map as Canonchet Park
The postal history of Holyoke is as complex as the city itself. As an example, in 1929, when the main post office was on 31 Main Street, there were 10 substations around the city. They were numbered 1 to 3 and 5 to 11. There were also two branch post offices – one in South Hadley and one in Willimansett. There was also a Holyoke Post Office Station at 239 Main Street (behind the Phoenix Building).
Stations were just outside the city limits too. Smiths Ferry Station ran from January 4 1876 to September 15 1919. Clarence Cogwell was the station agent for much of that time span. He was the station agent for the B and M railroad and postmaster.
At Mount Tom Station in Easthampton there was a post office that was in effect from July 5 1876 to the 1970s. At the Holyoke Place Post Office, Tadock Lyman was the postmaster. This station ran from Feb 3 1836 to Feb 21 1846. This office was either in South Hadley or in Hadley and was either at the top of the mountain Mount Holyoke or at its base.
Open Square (Holyoke)
Cubit Living (Holyoke)
Witman Properties (Holyoke)
Edaron (100 Appleton Street in Holyoke)
Pleasant Street Auto AND Hampshire Towing
The Wherehouse? (Holyoke)
Lyle Electric (Holyoke)
Conklin Office Furniture (Holyoke)
Homewood Suites by Hilton – HOLYOKE location at 375 Whitney Avenue
Brad Matthew Jewelers (Holyoke)
Greensfield Coin and Stamp (Holyoke) [permanently closed]
“This program is supported in part by a grant from the Holyoke Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.”
South Hadley Local Cultural Council
Chicopee Local Cultural Council
Massachusetts Cultural Council
The Saint Jerome Church (Campus and Neighborhood) walking tour booklet is available from me. They cost $5 for a black-and-white stapled copy. Each additional copy after that is $3 more when shipped together. For a color copy, the cost is $8 and each additional copy in color is $6.
Email me from my contact page for details. The booklets that you order will be mailed to you via USPS so I need a physical address. Other booklets are available at the BOOKLET page.
Follow the tour HERE
Electrical Energy Progression in Holyoke
| amount | lights per Schuyler dynamos | total added that year | total | |
| Oct 1884 | 1 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| 1885 | 4 | 25 | 100 | 116 |
| 1885 | 1 | 40 | 40 | 156 |
| 1886-7 | 8 | 30 | 240 | 396 |
| 1890 | 4 | 50 | 200 | 596 |
| 1894 | 1 | 50 | 50 | 646 |
| 1895 | 2 | 50 | 100 | 746 |
Powers Paper Mill existed from at least 1890 to 1905 near the railroad of the Third Level Canal. They made Connecticut Valley Mills paper and also Brunswick Extra Fine Paper.
Sanborn 1895 map – there are located inside the Connecticut River Paper Company and before that they are hard to find
Sanborn 1915 map – GONE
