EAST LONGMEADOW, MASSACHUSETTS

'East Longmeadow' is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States situated in the Pioneer Valley region of Western Massachusetts. East Longmeadow is bordered by Enfield and Somers, Connecticut, on the
south; Hampden on the east; Wilbraham on the northeast; Springfield on the north and northwest; and Longmeadow on the west. East Longmeadow is 25 miles north of Hartford, 5 miles south of Springfield, 88 miles southwest of Boston, and 142 miles north of New York City.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Points of interest

Government

Notable residents

References

External links

History

East Longmeadow was first settled in 1740 and was officially incorporated in 1894. East Longmeadow and Longmeadow compete in an annual Thanksgiving Day football game that has been nicknamed the Super Bowl. The town is also the home to the 2007 WMASS champs in baseball.
East Longmeadow hosts an annual Fourth of July Parade. It is the largest Fourth of July parade in western Massachusetts. East Longmeadow High School also serves as host to an annual Fourth of July fireworks display, traditionally held on July 3.
East Longmeadow's central rotary is featured in Ripley's Believe It Or Not! for being an intersection between seven roadways and featuring no traffic lights.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 33.7 km² (13.0 mi²). 33.6 km² (13.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.31%) is water.
East Longmeadow is bordered on the north by Springfield, on the east by Wilbraham and Hampden, on the south by Somers, Ct and Enfield, CT, and on the west by Longmeadow and Springfield.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 14,100 people, 5,248 households, and 3,988 families residing in the town. The population density was 419.7/km² (1,087.1/mi²). There were 5,363 housing units at an average density of 159.7/km² (413.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.52% White, 0.74% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.92% of the population.
There were 5,248 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.0% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $62,680, and the median income for a family was $70,571. Males had a median income of $51,062 versus $32,267 for females. The per capita income for the town was $27,659. About 2.1% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

A point of interest in East Longmeadow is Heritage Park. Heritage Park has a lake with swans and fish, as well as baseball fields and a picnicking area. Historic places in East Longmeadow include the sandstone quarries and the Norcross House. Another point of interest is the area around the central rotary. Here, there are small shops, including many restaurants such as DeNardo's, Fazio's, Romito & Sons, the Pizza Shoppe, and recently Spoleto's. Also an integral part of East Longmeadow are the many churches, such as St. Michael's (Catholic), St. Paul's, St. Marks, the Congregationalist church at the rotary, and many more. (also it was home to Milton Bradley Corporation for many years, and still houses one of their biggest facilities even after the Hasbro takeover.)

Government

East Longmeadow has an annual open town meeting held on the third Monday in May. Special town meetings may be held throughout the rest of the year if a minimum of signatures are gathered or one is called for by the town's chief executive board.
The chief executive board in the town is the Board of Selectmen. It consists of three members who hold three year staggered terms.
Current Members of the Board of Selectmen
- Jack Villamaino, Chairman
- Joe Townshend
- Jim Driscoll

Notable residents

Tim Daggett an american olympic gold medalist in gymnastics
Brad Shepard, Radio Personality

References

★ "''East Longmeadow Massachusetts, 1894-1994 : Centennial edition''", Heather Ewell Huntley. (Editor). [East Longmeadow, Mass. : s.n.] : State College, PA : Jostens Printing & Publishing Division, 1994.

★ "''History of the Town of East Longmeadow''", prepared by the Town History Group to commemorate the Town's seventy-fifth anniversary, 1894-1969. Springfield, Mass. : New England Blue Print Paper Company, 1969.

External links

★ Official website