Holland is a small Hampden County town of about 2,600 in the southeast corner of the Pioneer Valley, tucked against the Connecticut state line between Brimfield on the north and the town of Union, Connecticut on the south. The town was originally part of South Brimfield (itself set off from Brimfield in 1775) and was incorporated as a separate town on July 5, 1783. South Brimfield was renamed Wales in 1828, so Holland’s parent town today goes by a different name than it did at the split.
Hamilton Reservoir and Lake Siog
The town’s two big water bodies dominate its map. Hamilton Reservoir, in the western part of town, is held back by the dam in the hero image and is one of the larger ponds in this part of the Pioneer Valley. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife stocks it with trout each spring, and it is open for boating and shore fishing.
Lake Siog (also known as Holland Pond) sits in the middle of town, with a small town park and swimming area. Holland Pond is also the headwaters of the Quinebaug River, which rises here at about 645 feet of elevation, flows out southeast into Connecticut, and drops eventually into the Shetucket on its way to the Thames and Long Island Sound.
A quiet town
Holland is one of the smallest towns in the Pioneer Valley by population. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 2,603 residents across about 13 square miles, and it has stayed that way through most of its history. There is no village center of the kind found in Brimfield or Monson; what civic buildings the town has (town hall, the elementary school, the library, and the First Congregational Church) are clustered along Sturbridge Road near Lake Siog. The original town hall, said to have stood for about two centuries, burned in December 1995, and the rebuilt hall on the same site was dedicated in July 1998.
Sources
- Town of Holland
- Holland, Massachusetts — Wikipedia (2020 U.S. Census population: 2,603)
- Wales, Massachusetts — Wikipedia (renamed from South Brimfield, 1828)
- Quinebaug River — Wikipedia