Chicopee (/ˈtʃɪkəpi/ CHIK-ə-pee) is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States.

During the 19th century, the city was home to the first American producer of friction matches as well as a variety of other industries,[11] including the Ames Manufacturing Company, an early pioneer in machining lathes, building upon the work of Springfield's Thomas Blanchard, and the largest producer of swords and cutlasses for the Union Army during the Civil War.

[14] Today the city is home to a variety of specialty manufacturers, as well as Westover Air Reserve Base, the largest Air Force Reserve Base of the United States, built in 1940 with the emergence of World War II.

[15] Chicopee today goes by the nickname the "Crossroads of New England" as part of a business-development marketing campaign, one that West Springfield also uses.

The name reflects the city's location among a number of metropolitan areas and its transportation network.

[19][20][21] In 1636, William Pynchon purchased land from the Agawam Indians on the east side of the Connecticut River.

He moved from the Town of Roxbury to Springfield to found the first settlement in the area that comprises the territory of today's Chicopee Center (Cabotville).

[citation needed] In 1786, what was called Factory Village began to develop when two acres of land was leased to 10 local men, with the understanding that they would build an iron foundry within two years.

[citation needed] In 1823, Jonathan Dwight purchased the water privilege at Skenungonuck Falls in Chicopee.

By 1831, settlers had developed two giant dams, two waterpower canals, and two manufacturing communities on the Chicopee River.

[citation needed] Before and after the partition, eight Chicopee River companies gained product recognition around the globe: Ames, Belcher, Lamb, Dwight, Stevens, Spalding, Fisk, and Duryea.

Below the falls, in the bend of the river at a place called Factory Village, an important chapter of the region's industrial history was played out.

[23] In the late 1740s, a discussion took place among members of the First Church of Springfield over whether the town should build a new meetinghouse out of brick, which would be more expensive yet durable, or timber, which would be relatively inexpensive.

In 1750, the petition was filed again by Japhet Chapin, signed by 49 residents of what are now Chicopee and Holyoke, and was approved by the General Court.

Governor George N. Briggs signed the act on April 29, 1848, creating the Town of Chicopee.

In 1991, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church, located on Front Street, was proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II.

In nearby South Hadley Canal, the firearms company Crescent-Davis specialized in producing double-barrel shotguns.

It is apparent from McKinstry's book that the Chapin family dominated the area north of the Chicopee River for the settlement's first 70 years.

By the 1750s, Quabbin Road (now McKinstry Avenue) allowed the farmers to access the meadows and fields on the plains at the top of the hill.

The Chapins used the land in common for grazing livestock and built ice houses near several large ponds.

By the 20th century, Willimansett village had developed into quintessential Americana with a high percentage of French Canadian inhabitants.

Fairview is the northernmost neighborhood (village) in Chicopee and originally included the lands that are now part of Westover ARB.

On August 18, 1870, Edward Monroe Alden purchased 600 acres of land just east of Willimansett for the sum of $9,000 with the intent to create a "little city on the hill," which would become Aldenville.

In 1890, he began laying out streets which he named for family members and divided the land up into 60-by-170 feet lots.

Sold for a selling price of $150 with $10 down, the first house was bought and built by French-Canadian builder and carpenter Marcellin Croteau.

The city is also home to a number of Polish-American food product manufacturers, reflecting the city's history, and include the Chicopee Provision Company, a major producer of Polish sausage kielbasa under the Blue Seal brand, Millie's Pierogi, a producer of those traditional Polish dumplings, and Domin & Sons, the region's largest producer of horseradish, whose largest market was Polish consumers at Easter.

[48] Despite changes in the global economy, Chicopee does remain home to manufacturers including Callaway Golf which produces more than 5 million golfballs a year at its Willimansett production plant.

[50][51] Chicopee also hosts the Buxton Company, which "designs, manufactures, and markets personal leather goods, travel kits, and gifts collections for men and women."

[65] The city replaced this system by abolishing the Common Council and adding ten aldermen-at-large to the Board of Aldermen.

[66] In 2008, the Board of Aldermen approved a home-rule petition to change the legislature's name to the City Council.