Springfield, Massachusetts

City: Springfield

County: Hampden

State: Massachusetts

Lat/Long: 42.1000, -72.5833

The city of Springfield is located in southwestern Massachusetts on the Connecticut River, five miles north of the state border with Connecticut. It serves as the county seat of Hampden County. Springfield was settled by Puritans in 1636 and incorporated in 1641. In 1794 the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of the first national manufacturing armory at Springfield which would be of great significance during the U.S. Civil War. Following the abandonment of the armory at Harpers Ferry by the U.S. Army at the outbreak of hostilities, the Springfield Armory became the main source of military muskets for the Union Army during the war.

Merriam-Webster’s Geographical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1997), 1121; Courtlandt Canby, The Encyclopedia of Historic Places (New York: Facts on File, 1984), 2:886; David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds., Encyclopedia of the American Civil War (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2000), 4:1843-44.