East Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Infobox Settlement
official_name = East Longmeadow, Massachusetts
motto =


imagesize =
image_caption =
image_

---

mapsize = 250px
map_caption = Location in Hampden County in Massachusetts


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Massachusetts
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Hampden
established_title = Settled
established_date = 1720
established_title2 = Incorporated
established_date2 = 1894
established_title3 =
established_date3 =
government_type = Open town meeting
leader_title =
leader_name =
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 33.7
area_total_sq_mi = 13.0
area_land_km2 = 33.6
area_land_sq_mi = 13.0
area_water_km2 = 0.1
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0
population_as_of = 2000
settlement_type = Town
population_total = 14100
population_density_km2 = 419.7
population_density_sq_mi = 1087.1
elevation_m = 69
elevation_ft = 400
timezone = Eastern
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = Eastern
utc_offset_DST = -4
latd = 42 |latm = 03 |lats = 52 |latNS = N
longd = 72 |longm = 30 |longs = 47 |longEW = W
website = http://www.eastlongmeadowma.gov/
postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 01028
area_code = 413
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 25-19645
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0618182
footnotes =

East Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States situated in the Pioneer Valley region of Western Massachusetts. East Longmeadow is bordered by Enfield and Somers, Connecticut, on thesouth; Hampden on the east; Wilbraham on the northeast; Springfield on the north and northwest; and Longmeadow on the west. East Longmeadow is 25 miles north of Hartford, 5 miles south of Springfield, 88 miles southwest of Boston, and 142 miles north of New York City.

East Longmeadow is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.

East Longmeadow was first settled in 1720 and was officially incorporated in 1894. East Longmeadow and Longmeadow compete in an annual Thanksgiving Day football game that routinely attracts a few thousand spectators. The town is also the home to the 2007 Western Massachusetts champions in Varsity High School Baseball.

East Longmeadow hosts an annual Fourth of July Parade. It is the largest Fourth of July parade in western Massachusetts. East Longmeadow High School also serves as host to an annual Fourth of July fireworks display, traditionally held on July 3.

East Longmeadow's central rotary is featured in Ripley's Believe It Or Not! for being an intersection between seven roadways and featuring no traffic lights, the most of any known rotary on the planet. Because of the danger of no traffic lights, accidents could occur quite frequently at this rotary.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 13.0 square miles (33.7 km²), of which, 13.0 square miles (33.6 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.31%) is water.

East Longmeadow is bordered on the north by Springfield, on the east by Wilbraham and Hampden, on the south by Somers, Ct and Enfield, CT, and on the west by Longmeadow and Springfield.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 14,100 people, 5,248 households, and 3,988 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,087.1 people per square mile (419.7/km²). There were 5,363 housing units at an average density of 413.5/sq mi (159.7/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.52% White, 0.74% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.24% from other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.92% of the population.

There were 5,248 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.0% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the town the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $62,680, and the median income for a family was $70,571. Males had a median income of $51,062 versus $32,267 for females. The per capita income for the town was $27,659. About 2.1% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

Points of interest

A point of interest in East Longmeadow is Heritage Park. Heritage Park has a lake known as "Blackman's Pond", swans and fish, as well as baseball fields and a picnicking area. Historic places in East Longmeadow include the numerous red and brown sandstone quarries that gave the town it's industrial beginnings and the Ellijh Burt House, The Seward Pease House and the First Congregationalist Church.
Another point of interest is the area around the central rotary. Here, there are small shops, including many restaurants such as Boston Market, DeNardo's, Fazio's, Romito & Sons, the Pizza Shoppe, and recently Spoleto's. Also an integral part of East Longmeadow are the many churches, such as St. Michael's (Catholic), St. Paul's, St. Marks and many more.Also, East Longmeadow was home to Milton Bradley Corporation for many years, and still houses one of their largest facillities after Hasbro bought this corporation in 1984.

Government

East Longmeadow has an annual open town meeting held on the third Monday in May presided over by an elected Moderator whom also is responsible for appointing the town's Finance Committee. Special town meetings may be held throughout the rest of the year if a minimum of certified signatures are gathered from registed voters (200), one is called for by the town's chief executive board and if no selectmen are in office this duty falls either to the Town Clerk or a Justice of the Peace. (Consult the Massachusetts General Laws for more detailed information.) [http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-39-toc.htm] The chief executive board in the town is the Board of Selectmen. It consists of three part time members who hold three year staggered terms and are paid $16.80 a week for their services.

Current Members of the Board of Selectmen- Enrico John Villamaino III, Chairman - Joe Townshend, Chairman Board of Health- James Deamer Driscoll, Board Clerk

Besides this board which also serves the role of Fire and Police Commissioners, the town has a series of independent Executive Boards. The Board of : Public Works, Planning, Library Trustees, Assessors, a School Committee and an independent yet elected Housing Authority Board. The town also has numerous advisory boards under these various executive boards.

Notable residents

*Kim Adler - Professional Bowler, 15 national PWBA titles including the 1999 Women's US Open
*Tim Daggett — Olympic gold medallist
*Erik P. Kraft – Writer, grew up in East Longmeadow, and his novel [http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Wimp-Erik-P-Kraft/dp/0316011657/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207496193&sr=8-1 Miracle Wimp] is set there.

References

* "East Longmeadow Massachusetts, 1894-1994 : Centennial edition", Heather Ewell Huntley. (Editor). [East Longmeadow, Mass. : s.n.] : State College, PA : Jostens Printing & Publishing Division, 1994.

External links

* [http://www.eastlongmeadowma.gov/ Official website]