The Brightside and Ingleside of Holyoke 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. You can follow this tour at LINK.
Booklets in the Spanish language are available for a self-guided tour of the Holyoke Canal System. They cost $7 for a black-and-white stapled copy. Each additional copy after that is $5 more when shipped together. For a color copy, the cost is $12 and each additional copy in color is $10.
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.
LINK to the tour.
The Reliance and Central Fire Stations of Holyoke were and are the headquarters of the Holyoke fire department.
Reliance Station (edition 2) housed Reliance Engine Company 1 (from at least 1886 onward) and Hook and Ladder Company 1 and had from at least 1899 to 1914 the following:
Central Fire Station (edition 1) from at least 1914 to 1935:
From at least 1949 to 1957, headquarters had engine 1 and 7 and truck 1 (an aerial ladder).
Sanborn map analysis:
Sanborn 1884 map called the Fire Engine and the Hook & Ladder House [Reliance edition 1]
Sanborn 1889 map called the Steamer & Hose Cart and the Hook & Ladder Truck [Reliance edition 2]
Sanborn 1895 map called the Engine & Hose Cart and the Hook & Ladder Truck [Reliance edition 2]
Sanborn 1915 map called Central Fire Station (edition 1)
Stop 1 – Bynan Conservation area
The Bynan Conservation Area is a very large conservation area in the southwest corner of town. South Hadley purchased this land from Joseph Bynan in 1978. A conservation restriction has been placed on the land since then.
Stop 2 – Bynan Pond
Bynan Pond is the first pond that you find as you enter the Bynan Conservation Area from Lyman Terrace. It was very large in the past and still is the largest in South Hadley. You can see it to the south plus it wraps around the meets the trail again.
Stop 3 – Britton Ponds
The only natural lakes of South Hadley are all in this area. They are called the Britton Ponds. There once were six ponds in the Plains neighborhood but now there are only 4 left. Of the two that are gone – both were in Chicopee or in both towns. You will see all four during your hike around the conservation area. These ponds were named after Royal Britton – a farmer that worked the land just west of these ponds.
Stop 4 – Taylor Pond
Taylor Pond once was the largest pond in South Hadley. However, the South Hadley landfill was placed over most of it and only a remnant is left to see.
Stop 5 – farm roads
Here you can see many farm roads leading off toward the north. Most of the farms of South Hadley were in that direction.
Stop 6 – Pond number 3
On this pond you can see that the dirt roads always go completely around any given pond. This is because the ponds were harvested for ice during the winter season. Local farmers most have built these auxiliary roads to help them harvest the ice better.
Stop 7 – Bartlett Street
This street once was the north south route from Chicopee to South Hadley Center. This was one of the many routes of the Underground Railroad. Once Bartlett Street was a major entrance into the conservation area but now it is closed.
Stop 8 – Pond number 4
Pond number 4 is found on your route back to your starting point.
Stop 9 – Ponds in Chicopee
There are both farm roads and transportation roads leading to the south. These served ice harvesting to the two southern ponds and also served farmers.
Stop 10 – South Hadley Landfill
The South Hadley landfill is closed as of 2014. The read about modern details see HERE.
| number | name | location | size (yards) | depth (feet) | comments |
| 1 | Bynan Pond | near SH dump | 250 | 10 | |
| 2 | Taylor Pond | mostly under the SH town dump | 70 remains | 3 | |
| 3 | 40 | 2 | |||
| 4 | southeast of Pond 3 | 80 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Slattery | along SH and Chicopee border | 120 | GONE | |
| 6 | Snow | in Chicopee | 120 | GONE | |
| 7 | end of Glen Drive | 200 | 2 | (seasonal) |
The Stony Brook cuts through the Mount Holyoke College campus and is dammed very often. It also runs into Granby a bit and there it is called Muddy Brook. There is also the Stony Brook Tributary along Kendrick Street. It once had a dam – the Kendrick Street Dam which held back the Kendrick Street Reservoir – but it is not there any more.
| code | name | location | served | type | year |
| 1a | Upper Pond Dam | Upper Pond | Smith’s Paper Mill | medium concrete | |
| 1b | Little Falls Dam | Little Falls Pond | small concrete | ||
| 1c | Lower Pond Dam | Lower Pond | medium concrete | ||
| 1d | Mill Dam | Mill Pond | small concrete | ||
| 1e | Barrett’s Butting Mill Dam | Barrett’s Butting Mill Reservoir |
By the Mill Dam
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 |
