No formal study has yet, to my knowledge, been carried out on this topic, but it seems that the Great Meadow is a very large and thus extremely rare (possibly unique) survival of open-field farming in New England. Open-field farming was the primary farming method in large swathes of medieval Europe and survived into the early modern period, when it was transplanted to the New World by the colonists.
In the UK at least, the open-field farming system is largely gone, the result of successive small- and large-scale enclosures through the 18th and into the 19th centuries. And yet, in Hadley’s Great Meadow, this field system remains as it was originally laid out by 1661 and divided by lots, and still farmed in the long, thin strips originally designed to be plowed by oxen. More investigation needs to be carried out, I believe, but I did a preliminary search on Google Maps of the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts and Connecticut (the location of some of most of the 17th century settlements in the western parts of these states), and found only a few apparent survivals (in Deerfield, Hatfield, near Wethersfield, CT, and—not in the CT River Valley but also settled in the 17th century—on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island), but these on a much smaller scale and mostly destroyed.
Over 160 acres of the Great Meadow (the area within the dike) is zoned residential and commercial, so nothing is stopping it from being developed, should any of the land go up for sale—even though it’s listed (along with the old burial ground and the West Street common) on the National Register of Historic Places! With the economic downturn and slowing down of the housing market (though it hasn’t stopped—there are new constructions in Hadley on Route 47—some hideous houses have just been built there between East and Middle Streets!), there is some (but very little!) time to work towards saving it. Advocacy—getting the word out about the Great Meadow—is what is needed most. I think most people in Hadley and around simply don’t realize the meadow’s significance because, admittedly, from the ground it really just looks like any big field. I don’t even think there’s a sign in the meadow to explain its significance. There is one on Route 9 right as you get off the Coolidge Bridge in Hadley, but I don’t think it’s very readable (not from a car, anyway!). Even this small gesture would help!
There will be much more about the Great Meadow in the future!
People like you, who own property there, would prefer it if nothing more ever gets built. You would prefer it if students and the working class have to pay extreme costs for housing. You would rather they be forced to live dozens of miles away (and ironically, contribute further to sprawl). You prefer to constrict housing supply so your property skyrockets in value and the only neighbors you have are rich. Don't put on a phony act and pretend that your interest is in preserving farmland...
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments, linirvana, I must say. But I don't own any property there (in fact, I don't own any property at all), and this area isn't all that huge, so it's not getting in the way of affordable housing projects. The idea is to protect a landscape that has been continually farmed for 350 years and retains the original plot structure, which is very unusual for a piece of land this size.
ReplyDeleteYour ideas are pretty stupid and you obviously haven't done any research and rely on false assumptions. You also have very little capacity to understand conservation issues. Not everyone wants money, nor do we want to make "students and the working class" pay extreme costs for housing. I really think you have no idea what you're talking about. I would assume "the working class" includes farmers, yes? Well, this is their land, and if it's conserved, they can continue with their livelihoods.
Perhaps you're a developer. I'm not wasting any more time on you.