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History · Turners Falls

Turners Falls dates to 1868, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and old-book passages.

1868founded
1on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Turners Falls’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Turners Falls began

When was Turners Falls founded?

1868

Turners Falls dates its founding to 1868 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1871.

2020 census: 4,512158 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1871.

What stands out about Turners Falls’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18906 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1990. Watch Turners Falls change.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1884 to 1914, drew every building in Turners Falls.Old housesHalf of Turners Falls’ homes were built before 1946.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Turners Falls’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewUS 1901 New York Machine Cancel to Turn…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Turners Falls on the map, 1890 to 1990

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

Turners Falls on the 1890 USGS mapTurners Falls on the 1936 USGS mapTurners Falls on the 1941 USGS mapTurners Falls on the 1954 USGS mapTurners Falls on the 1975 USGS mapTurners Falls on the 1990 USGS map1890Greenfield 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 Turners Falls.

Every building

Turners Falls, building by building, 1884–1914

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Turners Falls fire insurance map, 1884, sheet 11884Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Turners Falls, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Turners Falls yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Turners Falls is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Montague in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,512 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its name is often used as a metonym for the entire town of Montague, for which it is the business district and comprises more than half the population.

Turners Falls was established in 1868. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,470 in 2010, 4,512 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Turners Falls, 1902–1904

Passages that mention Turners Falls, cut from the printed page as they were published.

two years, and was principal of the high school at Greenfield for two years, during which time his leisure hours were spent in the office of W. S. B. Hopkins. He was admitted to the bar in 1871, and began his practice at Turners Falls. He was appointed trial justice in 1872, and was fast taking ran…
History of Greenfield1904 · page 824Read the page →
Read the text

two years, and was principal of the high school at Greenfield for two years, during which time his leisure hours were spent in the office of W. S. B. Hopkins. He was admitted to the bar in 1871, and began his practice at Turners Falls. He was appointed trial justice in 1872, and was fast taking rank as a sound lawyer, when his promising career was cut short by his early death, February 19, 1879.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
1804, in Wilmington, Vt. ; m. Dec. 5, 1826, Lucy, dati. of Thomas and Dorothy (Sawin) Wood. Mr. Ctitler was a farmer, although before the days of the railroads he engaged in boating on the Connecticut river between Turners Falls and Brattleboro, Vt. In 1841 he removed from his farm in Vernon, Vt., …
History of the town of Bernardston, Franklin county, Massachusetts. 1736-1900. With genealogies1902Read the page →
Read the text

1804, in Wilmington, Vt. ; m. Dec. 5, 1826, Lucy, dati. of Thomas and Dorothy (Sawin) Wood. Mr. Ctitler was a farmer, although before the days of the railroads he engaged in boating on the Connecticut river between Turners Falls and Brattleboro, Vt. In 1841 he removed from his farm in Vernon, Vt., to Bernardston, purchasing what was known as the Ezra Connable farm in North Bernardston. This he brought to a high state of cultivation. He served the town

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Turners Falls, 1868 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868
    FoundingTurners Falls is established
  3. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveUS 1901 New York Machine Cancel to Turners Falls MA Cover front
  6. 1930In the archivePost office and National Bank, Turners Falls, Mass (67507)
By decade

Turners Falls, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s2 items
US 1901 New York Machine Cancel to Turners Falls MA Cover front1900sUS 1901 New York Machine Cancel to Turners Falls MA C…Post office and National Bank, Turners Falls, Mass (67507)c. 1930Post office and National Bank, Turners Falls, Mass (6…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Turners Falls2007Turners FallsIMG 4000 Turners Falls dam2007IMG 4000 Turners Falls damIMG 3952-Turner-Falls-Road-bridge-south-end2007IMG 3952-Turner-Falls-Road-bridge-south-endCT River at2005CT River at
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

US 1901 New York Machine Cancel to Turners Falls MA Cover front
Retake this viewUS 1901 New York Machine Cancel to Turners Falls MA Cover front, 1900s

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Turners Falls’ page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 250 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
250
each building in a district counts

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Montague4 historic placesA+Greenfield10 historic placesA+Gill2 historic placesA+

Questions about Turners Falls’ history

What year was Turners Falls founded?

In 1868, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Turners Falls’ post office opened in 1871.

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 (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.