Greenwich Village, Massachusetts

Revision 1.00

Introduction

This project was inspired when I happened across the collection of photographs of doomed Swift River Valley real estate that was made available online thanks to Sean Fisher, archivist for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Katy Purington, intern for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (and probably others). While viewing the photos of the individual buildings was interesting, I thought about how nice it would be to know where exactly each of the buildings was in relationship to each other, as part of a community. Beyond that, I thought how nice it would be to know a little about the people who lived and worked in these buildings, and how they were interconnected to form the community.

While researching this project, I became increasingly aware of just how close-knit a small New England village could be in the days before everyone owned an automobile, and the local community was a larger part of a person's world than it usually is in the twenty-first century. When the inhabitants of Greenwich Village were forced to pack and leave, they would find new places to live, but that community could not be replaced, nor the heritage of being part of that land, in some cases, for many generations.

As I write these words, today is August 31, 2023, the 85th anniversary of the last U. S. Mail in and out of Greenwich Village -- a serious milestone in the life of a village. The minimal information that I have collected and present in this project hardly even begins to tell the story of this community. But in hopes that it may help to keep alive the memory of the folks that made up the community, I dedicate this work to the people of Greenwich Village, Massachusetts.

Norm Pierce, August 31, 2023

Getting around

This is not one long document to be read from start to finish, but a collection of individual documents -- one for each of the parcels of real estate in the Village. Below is a map of the village, and the document for each parcel can be found by clicking the parcel number on the map. Within each document you may find links that may be clicked to read about a related parcel, but mostly you will be using your browser's Back button to return to the map and visit another parcel. Please enjoy wandering around the village at your own pace.

Many of the citations in the text may be clicked to find the name of the source. If you need the name of a source for the non-clickable citations, consult the Works Cited page.

About the census data: Many of these documents will have a section called Census Records. Be aware that there were never any street addresses in Greenwich Village. The dwellings are simply numbered on the census form in the order that the census taker visited them. To determine which census dwelling went with which property required looking at clues, such as the ownership shown by deeds, and the census field that indicated whether the dwelling was owned or rented. The names of people nearby on the census form were also used as hints. But there is no guarantee that my educated guessing has matched the correct family with the property. When I have had doubts, I sometimes include the word "MAYBE". (Also note that in the Census Records I have used the spellings provided by the census taker, which are often different from a person's actual name.)

The parcels

Click on desired parcel number.

This map is based upon a plan created by the Metropolitan District Water Supply Commission, Frank E. Winsor, chief engineer.

Please send questions & comments to npierce.gv@dappermapper.com with the subject "Greenwich Village".