Turners Falls Massachusetts

 Have you ever been to Turners Falls, Massachusetts?  Is it close to Montague?  Is is part of Montague? I have never been clear on that until yesterday.  After lunch and ice cream at Country Creemee, one of our favorite places in Turners Falls,  I finally found out.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. I was still confused by the street sign, but   looking closely at the sign to the left of the doorway of their Town Hall building you see the Town of Montague is made up of the villages of:

Turners Falls

                                                      Millers Falls 

                                                      Lake Pleasant

                                                      Montague Center

                                                      Montague City

You can read about the histories of each here:https://www.montague-ma.gov/p/20/History-of-the-Five-Villages-of-Montague

According to Wikipedia, the village of Turners Falls was founded in 1868 as a planned industrial community according to the plan of Alvah Crocker, a prominent man from Fitchburg who envisioned in the immense power of the waterfalls the means of establishing a great city. Crocker was influenced by other, earlier and successful experiments in Lowell and elsewhere. Crocker's vision was to attract industry to the town by offering cheap hydropower that was made by the harnessing of the Connecticut River, through the construction of a dam and canal. His development concept was to sell mill sites along the power canal to those companies and to sell individual building lots to mill workers who would come to work in the mills.

This sign certainly doesn't clarify which community you are in!

Look closely at the sign on the Town Hall building and you will see the answer.

 

This picture shows the mills upon which this village was designed around. The water was channeled to provide power.  These buildings look like an island out in the water.

 

The Shea movie theater was built in 1927 and has since served as a venue for a variety of entertainment from local to touring talent. https://sheatheater.org/p/7/The-History-of-the-Shea-Theater-TF-MA

 

Along Main Street. 

The main street has a lot of brick structures.

This building has been converted into The Great Falls Discovery Center.

https://greatfallsdiscoverycenter.org/about-the-center-2/ 

This appears to have been a warehouse on this side of the canal.

It is my understanding that most of these mills are not used now.  The most recent which may still be in operation is the the one in the distance with the bridge attached.

A very nice bike path runs along the river.