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2000 Population.......................8,470
2008 Registered voters................5,607
1999 Per capita income..............$17,794
2008 Average tax bill................$2,593
1999 Median family income...........$33,750
2007 Budget.....................$14,179,952
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Town Hall....................(413) 863-3204
Town Administrator........Frank Abbondanzio
Town Clerk.......................Debra Bourbeau
Treasurer.....................Patricia Dion
Police Chief...............Raymond Zukowski
Turners Falls Fire Chief..........Ray Godin
Montague Center Fire Chief......John Greene
School Supt.........................Carl Ladd
Selectboard............(chair)Patricia Pruitt
Patricia Allen
Mark Fairbrother
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The Shea Theater, on
Avenue A in Turners Falls, is an old movie house that has been restored and is
now a center for performing arts. It hosts a regular program of music,
dance, comedy and plays. The Arena Civic Theatre is the resident compay of
artists. Call 413-863-2281 for further information.
Fish Ladder, operated by Northeast
Utilities, gives viewers a chance to watch anadromous fish such as
shad as they make their journey up the Connecticut River each spring.
Located at the Turners Falls dam, the viewing facility is open Wednesday
through Sunday, mid-May through June. Parking is available behind the Town
Hall. Call 413-659-3714 for further information.
Carnegie Library,
on Avenue A in Turners Falls, has an "Artifacts Loft" that
features a small exhibit, including an early Indian arrowhead collection,
local memorabilia and relics from the Revolutionary War through World War
II. Call 413-863-3214 for further information.
Great Falls Discovery Center,
on Avenue A in Turners Falls, is a natural history museum exploring the
Connecticut River. The museum consists of murals and dioramas with animal
speciments representing the different habitats alonf the river. For more
information call 413-863-3221.
Hallmark Museum of Contemporary
Photography, housed in the renovated Colle Opera House and the Crocker building both on Avenue A, is a
photography museum created by the Hallmark School of Photography. It is open
Thursday through Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. For more information about
current exhibits call 413-863-0009.
Bitzer Fish Hatchery, is operated by the state Division of
Fisheries and Wildlife and raises trout for stocking throughout the state.
Located on Hatchery Road, which connects Montague and Greenfield Roads, the
facility is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 413-367-2477 for further information.
Thomas Memorial Golf and Country Club, is a nine-hold golf
course located off Montague City Road in Turners Falls. It includes a
swimming pool and tennis courts. Call 413-863-8003 for further information.
Northeast Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory, is a
$17-million facility built in 1990 and operated by the U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. It provides innovative and in-depth research on the
various species of anadromous fish native to the East Coast, with the
intention of developing the most effective system possible for allowing fish
to pass man-made obstacles, primarily hydroelectric dams. during their
annual migrations upstream and downstream. Located between the power canal
and Connecticut River, it can be reached by taking 11th Street off Avenue A
in Turners Falls. Call the Silvio Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center at
413-863-9475 for tour information.
Montague Old Home Days, held annual near the end of August in
Montague Center. The festivities include games, auction, music, food and a 5.5
mile footrace called the Mug Race.
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History goes here. Montague, incorporated in 1754, consists of the
five villages: Montague Center, Montague City, Turners Falls, Millers Falls
and Lake Pleasant. Of the five, Turners Falls developed into the most populated
and industrialized community and is the site of the town offices. The
growth was primarily due to water power generated after a dam and canal
were built near the falls on the Connecticut River in the 1790's, which
attracted industry.
The village is named after Captain William Turner, who
was regarded as one of the military heroes of the Indian Wars. In 1676,
during King Philip's War, Captain Turner led a group of about 160 mounted
soldiers from Hadley and made a surprise attack on several hundred
Indians, including women and children, who had camped near the falls. The
massacre, which cost Turner his life, helped quell Indian attacks on
settlers throughout the Connecticut River Valley. Around 1865, Colonel
Alvah Crocker, a prominent man from Fitchburg envisioned in the immense
water power of the falls the means of establishing a great city. He, along
with Wendell T. Davis and the other owners of the Upper Locks and Canal
Co., planned the village and influenced a number of industries to move to
Turners Falls.
Some of the first companies located there were: Turners
Falls Lumber Co., Montague Paper Co., at the time one of the largest
producers of newspaper in the country; the Turners Falls Paper Co.; and the
John Russell Cutlery Co., then the largest cutlery factory in America, which
had been originally established in Greenfield on the Green River. Montague
Center, which still has a town hall, was once part of Sunderland. It
wasn't until 1774 that the town had enough citizens to entitle it to a
separate representative to the General Court, having before shared
representation with Sunderland. Among the earliest settlers are believed
to be Ebenezer Marsh, Samuel Taylor, Samuel Harvey, William Allis, Joseph
Root and Nathaniel Gunn. The Sawmill River helped give rise to a variety
of small industries that produced items such as scythe snaths, wagons,
hats, chairs, furniture, rakes and wallets.
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