Gill — Villages

Extracted from "History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Volume II," by Louis H. Everts, 1879.


Gill Centre

      Gill Centre, the oldest village in the town, is set upon a gently-undulating plain, and in the midst of a hilly region, which frames with wild adornment the nestling hamlet upon which it looks. There are here two churches, a fine town-hall, completed in 1868 at a cost of $3500, a store, public library, and post-office.

Riverside

      Riverside, opposite the village of Turner's Falls, occupies the site of the historical fight in 1676, to which detailed reference is made elsewhere. Although there are in Massachusetts several places known as Riverside, this is the only post-office in the State bearing the name. At this point a fine suspension bridge, completed in 1878, and costing $42,000, spans the. Connecticut above the falls, and offers easy communication between Montague and Gill. The village, which is rapidly growing into favor among the business-men at Turner's Falls village as a place of suburban residence, is admirably situated for that purpose on a commanding elevation, overlooking the Connecticut, and at no distant day, when the village of Turner's Falls reaches the metropolitan distinction for which it is destined, Riverside will be a rich garden blooming with natural and architectural beauty. The mills of the Turner's Falls Lumber Company are here, and there are also two stores, having a flourishing trade.




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