Bobbin Hollow
“Ingate Farm” was once know as "Bobbin Hollow Farm". The house was built in East Pelham in the 1700's. In 1822 it was moved to the new town of Prescott. The house would stay in Prescott until 1938 when the town was discontinued by the Commonwealth for the Quabbin Reservoir. In 1939 it was moved to Belchertown. The original house site is now under the Quabbin. The Jewett family brought the house to Belchertown. The Jewetts operated the farm from the 1950's to the 1960's.
William McCormick ,the owner of Ingate Farm, says that Henry Market in South Amherst remembers when the house was moved to Belchertown in 1939. They said the house was disassembled board by board and each board was numbered. When they put the house back together they reused the nail holes. Mr. McCormick estimates the house is 60 feet long and 50 feet wide. The McCormicks say that they think the front of the house once faced Belchertown. Both floors of the house are made of wood. They think the wood floors are original but new beams and the foundation was changed when the house was moved to Belchertown. The north side of the house was added when it was moved for the last time.
Today the McCormicks run a bed and breakfast in the house. They have had 3,300 visitors from 44 states and several countries. People who have been researching Bobbin Hollow debate if it was a tavern or bobbin factory. Ingate Farm may be one of the oldest surviving Pelham houses.
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