Brief History of Northampton
The Northampton Court House, taken from the window of our parkside room at Hotel Northampton.
The Puritans Settle in Northampton
The court house was established around 1660, shortly after the Puritans bought the fertile farm land from the Indians, and during the inevitable wars that followed. Before court houses were built, traveling judges carried all their records on horseback while they traveled the circuit. It could take 2 weeks or more for a judge to arrive in town to be able to record or settle property matters, births and deaths, and of course -- marriages. So the records from that court house and the American History at this crossroads dates to 1660.
The Puritans Settle in Northampton
The court house was established around 1660, shortly after the Puritans bought the fertile farm land from the Indians, and during the inevitable wars that followed. Before court houses were built, traveling judges carried all their records on horseback while they traveled the circuit. It could take 2 weeks or more for a judge to arrive in town to be able to record or settle property matters, births and deaths, and of course -- marriages. So the records from that court house and the American History at this crossroads dates to 1660.
There arose a feud in the early town between 2 of the primary settlers of the area, and it ended with one family accusing the other of being a witch. That was the beginning of the Puritanical Witch Hunts that ultimately came to a head in Springfield over the next few years. But no doubt, official action in those witch hunts occurred in this court house right outside our bedroom window at Hotel Northampton.
This was the view at night out the windows of our Parkside unit facing the courthouse. All is calm, all is bright. The Christmas Lights are getting brighter every night, and there are cherry pickers on the streets installing more all during the day.
It was a beautiful sight to have the entire city decorated for our wedding!
It was a beautiful sight to have the entire city decorated for our wedding!
Modern Day Northampton
The last few hundred years have been good to this area. Northampton is a progressive education center, and excels with attracting cutting edge "guest experience" businesses and artisans to its quaint, well preserved, vibrant New England downtown. It was the perfect destination we could select for our wedding. Everyone we met and worked with for the various segments of the weekend shared their heart-felt congratulations, and they were proud that their state allowed a beautiful event like this to take place there.
The last few hundred years have been good to this area. Northampton is a progressive education center, and excels with attracting cutting edge "guest experience" businesses and artisans to its quaint, well preserved, vibrant New England downtown. It was the perfect destination we could select for our wedding. Everyone we met and worked with for the various segments of the weekend shared their heart-felt congratulations, and they were proud that their state allowed a beautiful event like this to take place there.
The primary sources for this information are from sites with extensive historic information :