Read Below a general account of the history of the town of Easthampton Massachusetts.
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EARLY HISTORY
The area Easthampton now occupies has distinct geographic and geological features formed over 14,000 years ago by the retreating of a continental glacier. This area is now known as The Barnes Aquifer and it supplies water to four municipalities within the Connecticut Valley of western Massachusetts including the cities of Westfield and Holyoke as well as the towns of Easthampton and Southampton. The water is held within sand and gravel deposits which were layed down approximately 14,000 years ago by a retreating continental glacier. Meltwater streams flowing off the ice deposited sands and gravels into glacial Lake Hitchcock.
Currently the Barnes Aquifer is the source of 11 municipal wells which supply Five Million gallons of water per day to 60,000 people in these communities.
The borders of Easthampton are almost entirely within the Lake, and Mt. Tom is an island.
