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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Westfield Athenaeum

Westfield, Massachusetts

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Westfield.

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31Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1782 to 1962Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

63,109Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Westfield, Massachusetts.

Explore the collection shared by Westfield Athenaeum, beginning with a question about Westfield. Its thirty-one titles include material from 1782 to 1962.

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  • Selected titles

    Westfield Athenaeum shares titles including “American Mercury” and “Westfield Valley Herald”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • Ways to explore

    A question connected with Westfield can begin in different parts of this collection. Let each source add its own perspective.

When a title or date is available, keep it with any detail that interests you. Let evidence guide what you conclude and what remains open. For family-history research, a classroom project, or personal curiosity, local history can be explored from many different starting points. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

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Titles in this collection

Browse thirty-one titles and 63,109 digitized pages, with material from 1782 to 1962. This collection is shared through Westfield Athenaeum's partnership with Advantage Archives. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

A familiar name or place can be the beginning of a story. Explore the titles below to see where that connection leads.

American Mercury

Page count not currently available dates not yet available

Democratic Herald

96 pages in 1835

Hampden County Leader

1,554 pages from 1907 to 1910

Hampden Register

540 pages from 1824 to 1828

Hampshire and Berkshire Chronicle

142 pages from 1791 to 1792

Hampshire Gazette

142 pages in 1788

Hampshire Gazette

4 pages in 1788

Herald Extraordinary

2 pages in 1786

Massachusetts Gazette or General Advertiser

4 pages in 1784

The American Mercury

4 pages in 1789

The Connecticut Courant and The Weekly Intelligencer

4 pages in 1782

The Hampshire Chronicle

142 pages from 1791 to 1792

The Hampshire Herald

133 pages from 1785 to 1786

The Valley Echo

9,184 pages from 1885 to 1923

The Western Star

2 pages in 1790

The Westfield Journal

1,418 pages from 1916 to 1917

The Westfield Standard

296 pages from 1850 to 1852

Times and News-Letter

6,308 pages from 1884 to 1906

Western Hampden Leader

148 pages from 1906 to 1907

Western Hampden Times

1,116 pages from 1869 to 1874

Western Hampden Times and Westfield News-Letter

2,072 pages from 1874 to 1884

Westfield Daily Journal

4,944 pages from 1833 to 1925

Westfield Daily Times

1,494 pages from 1906 to 1907

Westfield Evening Echo

4 pages in 1887

Westfield Evening Journal

6,117 pages from 1917 to 1920

Westfield News Advertiser

14,290 pages from 1942 to 1962

Westfield News Letter

2,848 pages from 1841 to 1854

Westfield News-Letter

4,017 pages from 1855 to 1874

Westfield Register

572 pages from 1828 to 1831

Westfield Times

112 pages in 1906

Westfield Valley Herald

5,400 pages from 1926 to 1942

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More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Turn a question into a source trail

A family name, familiar place, or question about Westfield can be a starting point for exploring its history. The collection details shared by the Westfield Athenaeum can help you choose a direction. Choose a person, place, organization, or event to investigate. Record the source title and date for each lead, and mark what is still uncertain.

When a promising lead runs out, return to the titles and dates shown for the collection, where available. Try another spelling, name, place, or nearby period connected with your question. Keep searches that did not help alongside useful findings; gaps in historical coverage can limit what any search reveals.

As you piece together a story from the past, note where each detail came from and why it matters. Include the title, date, and page or item reference. Mark uncertain identifications and unanswered questions so a promising connection does not become an unsupported fact.

Review collection titles

Map of States of the United States where Massachusetts is pulled

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Westfield Athenaeum, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.

Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.

Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.

Learn about partnerships
Read All About It

Stories, research tips, and archive news

Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.

Newest published articles

March 18, 2025

It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?

We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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