Geographical Changes of Pelham
Pelham as we know it today is a lot smaller then what it was. Two towns have broken away from Pelham but the big change happened when the Quabbin Reservoir was created. The town of Pelham was founded in 1738. Pelham was bordered by Hadley, Road Town, New Salem, Quabbin District and Cold Springs. The major geographical landmarks were East Hill and West Hill. The major roads were both called Country Road. One went from Amherst to Greenwich and the other went from Road Town to Cold Spring.
Then between 1738 and 1788 Road Town turned into Shutesbury, Quabbin District turned into Greenwich, Cold Spring turned into Belchertown, and Hadley turned into Amherst. Also about that time, Country Road, the one that went from Amherst to Greenwich, turned into the 6th Massachusetts Turnpike which went from Amherst to Shrewsbury. In 1795 the points of interests was the old meeting house, now the town hall, Bobbin Hollow, Conkey’s Tavern, the village of Packardville, the old cemetery, and Orient Springs.
In 1822 Prescott broke away from Pelham and part of Belchertown turned into Enfield. When the Quabbin Reservoir was created half of Pelham was drowned. The 6th Massachusetts Turnpike was cut off and turned into Amherst Road which went from Amherst to Pelham Hill. These are the changes that happened between 1738 and1938.