Ludlow is a New England town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,002 as of the 2020 census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located just northeast of Springfield across the Chicopee River, it is one of the city’s suburbs. It has a sizable and visible Portuguese and Polish community.

History

The Indigenous people along the Chicopee River, including modern-day Ludlow, were the Algonquian peoples. Though records are incomplete, the area was settled primarily by the Pocomtuc tribe. During King Philip’s War (1675–1676), white settlers forced a band of Indigenous people, led by Roaring Thunder, to jump to the water of the Chicopee River to escape their attackers (this place has since been called Indian Leap).

Although plans were drawn up for settlement as early as 1685, within the original boundaries of Springfield, Massachusetts, white people first settled in Ludlow in 1751 as Stony Hill Parish. However, the town was later renamed Ludlow and incorporated as a separate entity in 1774, just before the breakout of the American Revolution. For much of its early history the town was agrarian and today many of Ludlow’s street names are derived from the names of these farming families (e.g. Chapin Street, Miller Street, Alden Street, Fuller Street). Ludlow was home to many sawmills and gristmills, utilizing the power from several sources of water nearby, the Chicopee River, Broad Brook, Higher Brook, and Stony Brook. Before the Civil War, the town began to develop into a mill town. This included the manufacturing of glass bottles by the many glassware companies, including John Sikes. Then Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Thomas Hutchinson renamed the town from the District of Stony Hill to Ludlow. The town of Ludlow was possibly named after Roger Ludlow, one of the founders of the Connecticut Colony or named after Ludlow, a town in England.

In 1868, the largest mill was opened and operated by the Ludlow Company (The Ludlow Clock Tower is depicted on the town seal), who produced jute yarns, twine, and webbing. This company helped shape the town by providing housing, a library, schools, playgrounds, and even a clubhouse for the increasingly diverse community. In the 20th century, this company moved to India and is now known as Ludlow Jute and Specialties of Mumbai.

In the early 20th century Ludlow developed from a mill town into a streetcar suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts, with a trolley line running over the bridge from Indian Orchard. Ludlow also had two railroads that traversed the town: the Springfield, Athol and North-eastern Railroad and the Hamden Railroad. The Hamden Railroad was closed and Interstate 90 was constructed over its former tracks. The Springfield, Athol, and Northeastern Railroad was reduced in length in the late 1930s as a result of the creation of Quabbin Reservoir. The train station for this line was at the corner of Winsor Street and Sewall Street and was the last station from Boston when the railroad closed in the 1950s. The train station was demolished in 1960. In 1981, the Stony Brook Power Plant was constructed in the town providing 517 Megawatts of electricity to 24 municipalities. In 1983, the plant became the first combined-cycle power plant in Massachusetts.

Ludlow’s population boomed in the 1950s with the creation of Interstate 90, known in Massachusetts as the Massachusetts Turnpike. John F. Thompson, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Massachusetts General Court at the time, was influential in gaining an exit on the Turnpike for Ludlow (now Exit 54, formerly 7) and subsequently the Turnpike influenced the growth of Ludlow as a suburb of Springfield. Since the 1950s, the development of numerous subdivisions has added to Ludlow’s growth.^{[citation needed]}

Education

The town is served by two public elementary schools, East Street School and Harris Brook Elementary School. Previously students attended elementary school based on their residence, but starting with the 2009–2010 school year a reorganization plan took effect in which preschool, Kindergarten and First Grade attend East Street, and grades 2–5 attend Harris Brook. There is one public middle school, Paul R. Baird Middle School, and Ludlow High School is the town’s only public high school.

The town also features St. John the Baptist, a private school serving grades K–8 affiliated with St. Elizabeth Parish. The nearest vocational high school is Pathfinder High School in Palmer.

The nearest community colleges are Springfield Technical Community College and Holyoke Community College. The nearest state universities are the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Westfield State University. The nearest private colleges from the center of Ludlow are Western New England University, American International College, and Springfield College, all in Springfield.

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States census, there were 21,209 people living in the town. The population density was 752.1 inhabitants per square mile (290.4/km). The racial makeup of the city was 95.78% White, 2.19% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.68% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, and 1.09% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.47% of the population.