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Springfield College

1885 establishments in MassachusettsPrivate universities and colleges in MassachusettsSpringfield CollegeUniversities and colleges established in 1885Universities and colleges founded by the YMCA
Universities and colleges in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield College, Springfield, Mass (61510)
Springfield College, Springfield, Mass (61510)

Springfield College is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor James Naismith. The institution's philosophy of "humanics... calls for the education of the whole person—in spirit, mind, and body—for leadership in service to others."

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Springfield College (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Springfield College
James Naismith Circle, Springfield

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Wikipedia: Springfield CollegeContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 42.104333333333 ° E -72.555055555556 °
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Address

Blake Arena

James Naismith Circle
01109 Springfield
Massachusetts, United States
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Springfield College, Springfield, Mass (61510)
Springfield College, Springfield, Mass (61510)
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Nearby Places

Watershops Pond
Watershops Pond

Watershops Pond (or Lake Massasoit) is a lake in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. Located in the Upper Hill neighborhood, it is the city's second-largest body of water, after the Connecticut River. Watershops Pond features 7 miles of shorelines and 186 acres. It was a major site for fishing, featuring species ranging from Black Crappie, Bluegill, Brown Trout, Chain Pickerel, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed, Rainbow Trout, and Yellow Bass. The city after multiple lowering of the dam draining the pins for lengthy periods had destroyed the habitat. Not only had it decimated the fish population leaving primarily pumpkinseed, calico bass, and carp. The pond was formed by damming the Mill River, which flows out of the westernmost end and continues 1.25 miles until its confluence with the Connecticut River. In the 19th century, three separate facilities: the Upper, Middle, and Lower Watershops on Watershops Pond, were built by the Springfield Armory along a dammed stream to house heavy equipment such as trip hammers, forges, and barrel rolling machinery. Eventually, these three units were combined into one facility, known as the Water Shops, which remained in service until the Springfield Armory was controversially shut down by The Pentagon in 1968. The Watershops gave name to the lake, which had initially been called Lake Massasoit. The original Watershops building still stands on Allen Street in Springfield.Springfield College, the institution where basketball was founded in 1891, borders Watershops Pond.

Winchester Square Historic District
Winchester Square Historic District

Winchester Square Historic District is a historic district encompassing a cluster of brick buildings at and near the intersection of State Street and Wilbraham Road on the east side of Springfield, Massachusetts. The buildings, most of which were built for industrial purposes, are clustered on five parcels, and were built between 1875 and 1913. It includes the Armory railroad station (1875), the Winchester Square fire station (1886, remodeled 1915), the Knox Automobile Company buildings (1891-1910), and the Indian Motorcycle Company plant, part of which later became the Springfield Industrial Institute complex. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.The district became a target for industrial development after the construction of the Springfield and New London Railroad in 1870, which included a stop nearby. The oldest building in the district is that of the Bullard Repeating Arms Company, built in 1883 for a company that manufactured rifles. Its founder Jean Bullard, a prolific inventor, also built an early steam-powered automobile in 1887. One building was eventually taken over in 1895 by the Springfield Industrial Institute, which trained generations of workmen for Springfield's industries. The fire station was built to meet the demand for improved fire department response time in the developing area. The Hendee Manufacturing Company, later Indian, began operations in this district upon its organization in 1901; in 1914 it was the world's largest maker of motorcycles. It operated here until 1948, and closed its last plant in 1953.

History of Springfield, Massachusetts
History of Springfield, Massachusetts

The history of Springfield, Massachusetts dates back to the colonial period, when it was founded in 1636 as Agawam Plantation, named after a nearby village of Algonkian-speaking Native Americans. It was the northernmost settlement of the Connecticut Colony. The settlement defected from Connecticut after four years, however, later joining forces with the coastal Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town changed its name to Springfield, and changed the political boundaries among what later became the states of New England. The decision to establish a settlement sprang in large part from its favorable geography, situated on a steep bluff overlooking the Connecticut River's confluence with three tributaries. It was a Native American crossroad for two major trade routes: Boston-to-Albany and New York City-to-Montreal. Springfield also sits on some of the northeastern United States' most fertile soil.Springfield flourished for the decades after its founding, operating as a trading post surrounding by numerous colonial farmsteads. The nearby Indian tribes were gradually displaced by colonial settlement and by the late 17th century became gradually confined to a palisaded fort on Long Hill. During King Philip's War, a pan-tribal effort to expel the colonists from their settlements in New England, a successful Indian attack on Springfield destroyed the settlement. After being rebuilt, Springfield's prosperity waned for the next hundred years but, in 1777, Revolutionary War leaders made it a National Armory to store weapons, and in 1795 it began manufacturing muskets. Until 1968, the Armory made small arms. Its first American muskets (1794) were followed by the famous Springfield rifle and the revolutionary M1 Garand and M14s. The Springfield Armory attracted generations of skilled laborers to the city, making it the United States' longtime center for precision manufacturing (comparable to a Silicon Valley of the Industrial Revolution). The Armory's near-capture during Shays Rebellion of 1787 was among the troubles that prompted the U.S. Constitutional Convention later that year.Innovations in the 19th and 20th centuries include the first American English dictionary (1805, Noah Webster), the first use of interchangeable parts and the assembly line in manufacturing (1819, Thomas Blanchard), the first American horseless car (1825, again Thomas Blanchard), vulcanized rubber (1844, Charles Goodyear), the first American gasoline-powered car (1893, Duryea Brothers), the first American motorcycle company (1901, "Indian"), an early commercial radio station (1921, WBZ), and most famously, the world's third-most-popular sport of basketball (1891, Dr. James Naismith).

Mill River (Springfield, Massachusetts)

The Mill River is a 1.25-mile-long (2.01 km) tributary of the Connecticut River in Springfield, Massachusetts. It flows from Watershops Pond (also known as Lake Massasoit) to its confluence with the Connecticut River. It is referred to as "The Miracle Mile" in a 2009 master's thesis that outlines possibilities for reclaiming the river's mouth as a recreational area. As of 2011, the final 350 feet (110 m) of the river, including its mouth, is confined in a pipe underneath Interstate 91, railroad tracks and a car dealership. Many Springfield residents have bemoaned the loss of the Mill River as a recreational area, and hope to gain greater access to both it and the Connecticut River in upcoming years. As it has for over a century, today the Mill River serves as a barrier between Springfield neighborhoods. Surrounding it are some of the most densely urbanized locations in Springfield.At the head of the Mill River there are steep stone retaining walls that were built to prevent the river's banks from degrading any further. The Mill River was once valued for its benefits to developing industry. Today, incompatible land uses present a problem to "freeing" the river to become a recreational area again. A 2009 master's thesis described a plan that could revitalize the Mill River and its surrounding neighborhoods by remaking the river as a recreational attraction, connecting the Connecticut River and the Basketball Hall of Fame with Watershops Pond and Springfield College.