Holyoke Massachusetts is the First Planned Industrial City in the country. A dam on the Connecticut River designed to harness the water power of the sixty foot drop of the Hadley Falls was constructed in 1848 and 1849. A series of canals directed that power to textile and paper mills.

The ingenuity of Holyoke’s city plan and canal system combined with the city’s excellent location attracted the best and the brightest in business and the arts. The city, planned to accommodate a population of 200,000, grew quickly and prospered. By 1900, Holyoke had more millionaires per capita than any other city in America and an abundance of architectural gems and fine cultural institutions.

Through the early 1970’s, Holyoke remained a center of commerce and culture and is now reinventing itself for the 21st century with the same spirit, imagination and drive of the original founders of Holyoke.