Ludlow, Massachusetts
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). This violent incident contributed to conditions later allowing more white settler colonialism in the area. 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