Mill River (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).

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.

Upper Hill is a neighborhood in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Stagg Field is an athletic field on the campus of Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. With bleacher seating for 3,867, is it the home field for Springfield College's football, field hockey, and men's and women's lacrosse team. It is also used for physical education classes and intramural sports. The Springfield College men's and women's soccer teams formerly played on the field. Featuring the first Astroturf12 surface in the nation to be installed on a college playing field, it is plowable and used year-round. The field is lighted according to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) standards for night games and has a heated and air conditioned press box.The field open in 1971 as Benedum Field. It was renamed in October 2007 in honor of Amos Alonzo Stagg, who came to Springfield College—then known as then known as International YMCA Training School—and initiated the school's football program. The field was resurfaced with "monofilament FieldTurf" during the summer of 2007.Stagg Field stands on the site of the college's previous athletics stadium, Pratt Field.

East Forest Park is a neighborhood in the south central part of Springfield, Massachusetts. The neighborhood borders East Longmeadow, Forest Park, and the Sixteen Acres neighborhood. It is a primarily residential middle-class neighborhood.

Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy (formerly Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical High School) is an American vocational high school located in Springfield, Massachusetts, next to the Springfield High School of Science and Technology. Led by principal George Johnson and operating under the authority of the Springfield School Committee, Putnam Vocational provides academic and vocational instruction to students in grades nine through twelve throughout the Springfield area. The school is receiving Title I funds from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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."

The Springfield High School of Science and Technology (HSST) is a public high school located in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The high school is home to grades 9–12. As of September 2008, the student count was approximately 1,700 students. This makes Science and Technology the third largest high school in Springfield, behind Springfield Central High School and the High School of Commerce. It is located directly next to Springfield's Roger L Putnam Vocational-Technical High School and the two schools share school buses.

American International College (AIC) is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts.

WAIC (91.9 FM) is the college radio station of American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is operated by the Five College Consortium's National Public Radio member station, WFCR, and serves as a relay of the all-news format airing on WFCR's sister station, WNNZ.

WSCB (89.9 FM; "The Birthplace") is a student-run campus radio station at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. It features an eclectic mix of music as well as news and sports talk from a variety of disc jockeys. WSCB's programming comes from students, faculty, and staff on the Springfield College campus.

Pine Point is a neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts. Located along Boston Road -- one of Springfield's commercial thoroughfares, home to the Eastfield Mall -- the middle-class Pine Point neighborhoods features streets of cozy capes and ranches as well as some of the most interesting Craftsman style bungalows in the region. The neighborhood features Pine Point Library and city parks surrounding Five Mile Pond and Loon Pond, providing places to swim, fish, boat, and picnic. The High School of Science & Technology and Putnam Vocational High School are found in this neighborhood. The headquarters of MassMutual, a Fortune 100 company - one of Massachusetts' top 2 companies by $billions of earnings - is located on State Street in the Pine Point neighborhood.