Elmwood Neighborhood in Holyoke
Blessed Sacrament Church and neighborhood
Along Beech Street it seems that Elmwood (LOCATION) is a new neighborhood but actually it is very old. Chapin Street has at its northern end as small street that bears to the right. This tiny street once lead into Elmwood Park and was considered to be its main entrance. After going downhill it meets the Day Brook. At that stream a bridge was built. One could cross the bridge and walk on a dirt road to Pine and Beech Streets.
Due to its wild nature, the Day Brook has been placed nearly entirely underground. Read about it HERE (PDF). Day Brook was placed underground for its full length through the Elmwood Park in the year 1926. The brook was causing too much trouble in the western Oakdale section of the city. It would flood very often. The stream was placed into the waste drainage system of Holyoke. This means that during floods there might be backups in the sewage system. When Day Brook passes through Community Field, the banks of the stream are made very high. The wastewater treatment plant of Holyoke is able to handle the high levels of most days but once a year it cannot. Then wastewater is sent directly to the river before treatment. Most of this elevated level of water is caused by the diversion of water from the Day Brook into the sewer pipelines.
