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History · Savoy

Savoy’s post office opened in 1816, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Mohawk Trail. Below: maps from 1886 on and the census since 1850.

1816first post office
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Savoy began

When was Savoy founded?

1816

The Savoy post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Savoy Centre (1876), Brier (1892) and Newstate (1897), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 955 in 18502020 census: 645210 years
Founding year: the first Savoy post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Savoy’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Savoy are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18867 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1998. Watch Savoy change.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1960, then more than doubled.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Savoy, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Savoy’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Savoy’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Savoy on the map, 1886 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Savoy. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Savoy on the 1886 USGS mapSavoy on the 1891 USGS mapSavoy on the 1944 USGS mapSavoy on the 1960 USGS mapSavoy on the 1973 USGS mapSavoy on the 1988 USGS mapSavoy on the 1998 USGS map1886Greylock sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Savoy.

People over time

Savoy, census by census

02004006008001,0001850190019502000955 in 1850Low: 277

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1960, then more than doubled.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Savoy’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Savoy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Savoy.

Read it all →

Savoy began its existence within the Massachusetts Colony as part of "Northern Berkshire Township #6", which included the present-day towns of Adams, North Adams, Cheshire and Lanesborough. The land was auctioned off several times before it was finally purchased by Colonel William Bullock of Rehoboth.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Savoy, 1805 to 1954

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1805Born herePhilo Carpenter is born here
  3. 1816Post officeThe Savoy post office opens
  4. 1833Born hereDuane Leroy Bliss is born here
  5. 1838Born hereRansom W. Dunham is born here
  6. 1850CensusPopulation peaks at 955
  7. 1876Post officeThe Savoy Centre post office opens
  8. 1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1892Post officeThe Brier post office opens
  10. 20th century
  11. 1923Post officeThe Savoy Centre post office closes
  12. 1954Post officeThe Brier post office closes
By decade

Savoy, decade by decade

Today10 recent
Savoy MA lg2010Savoy MA lgMassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Transfer Station, February 27, 20102010MassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Transfer Station, Febr…MassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Transfer Station, February 27, 20102010MassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Transfer Station, Febr…MassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Chapel Rd, February 27, 20102010MassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Chapel Rd, February 27…MassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Chapel Rd, February 27, 20102010MassDOT Snow Removal, Savoy MA Chapel Rd, February 27…MA Route 8A northbound entering2009MA Route 8A northbound enteringMA Route 116 westbound entering2009MA Route 116 westbound enteringEastbound MA Route 1162009Eastbound MA Route 116Savoy-Route 116 View2004Savoy-Route 116 ViewSavoy Town Hall2004Savoy Town Hall
On the National Register

1 historic place in Savoy

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Mohawk Trail
Mohawk Trail
Sites
Mohawk TrailSite

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Savoy

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ransom W. DunhamAmerican politician · b. 1838
Philo CarpenterAmerican pharmacist · b. 1805
Duane Leroy BlissAmerican businessman · b. 1833
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Savoy’s post office has been open since 1816. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Savoy
1816–today
Savoy Centre
1876–1923
Brier
1892–1954
Newstate
1897–1905
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrierSavoy Center
Gone or out of use
Hollow Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Savoy
New StateSpruce CornerThe Tomb

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Florida1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCheshire5 historic placesA+PlainfieldIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Savoy’s history

What year was Savoy founded?

The Savoy post office opened in 1816, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Savoy?

One place: the Mohawk Trail (listed 1973).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.