J. A. Skinner State Park
Encyclopedia
The Joseph Allen Skinner State Park is located on Mount Holyoke
, the western-most peak of the Mount Holyoke Range located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts
. It is accessible from accessible from Rt 47 in Hadley, Massachusetts
. At the summit is the historic Prospect House, an old hotel first opened in 1851. In its heyday, a steamer would pick up guests at the Smiths Ferry railroad station across the Connecticut River
in what was then Northampton, ferrying them to a tramway leading to the Half Way House. From there guests could take a steep inclined tram to the summit. The Prospect House, under the proprietorship of John and Fanny French, was expanded twice, first in 1861 and nearly doubled in size with the construction of an annex in 1894.
In 1908 the property was sold to the Mt. Holyoke Hotel Company. This corporation was formed by Joseph Skinner a local industrialist, L. Threadway of Threadway Inn fame, and Christopher Clarke to hold the land in trust for an eventual state reservation. The hotel continued operation until the Great Hurricane of 1938 badly damaged the 1894 annex, which was subsequently demolished. Soon after this, Joseph Allan Skinner offered to donate the hotel and the surrounding land to the State of Massachusetts on the condition it became a state park named after him. The formal dedication was held in June 1940.
State funds for maintenance of the summit house and tramway during the intervening years were inadequate. The remains of the tramway were removed in 1964 and by the mid-1970s there were proposals to condemn and demolish the summit house. This led to a public outcry and in the mid-1980s the Summit House, consisting of the original 1851 structure and the 1861 addition, was restored by the State. The Summit House (at
42.300505°N 72.587695°W) is now open to the public only on weekends or for special events such as a summer concert series sponsored by the Friends of the Mt. Holyoke Range
(FOMHR).
As of May 2010, the summer house is again in need of repair. The deck and interior have been closed off to the public indefinitely. There is an investigation into what repairs and additions have to be made, but they must be significant enough that the lack of them would pose a threat to the public. The house and deck are perched above where the old tramway used to be, and a collapse would send the structure down all the way to the halfway house. The bid has not yet been made for fundshttp://northamptonmedia.com/p?=1801, but the state is in difficult financial times and thus the fate of the building is in question.
Mount Holyoke
Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation , is the western-most peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in...
, the western-most peak of the Mount Holyoke Range located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It is accessible from accessible from Rt 47 in Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding...
. At the summit is the historic Prospect House, an old hotel first opened in 1851. In its heyday, a steamer would pick up guests at the Smiths Ferry railroad station across the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
in what was then Northampton, ferrying them to a tramway leading to the Half Way House. From there guests could take a steep inclined tram to the summit. The Prospect House, under the proprietorship of John and Fanny French, was expanded twice, first in 1861 and nearly doubled in size with the construction of an annex in 1894.
In 1908 the property was sold to the Mt. Holyoke Hotel Company. This corporation was formed by Joseph Skinner a local industrialist, L. Threadway of Threadway Inn fame, and Christopher Clarke to hold the land in trust for an eventual state reservation. The hotel continued operation until the Great Hurricane of 1938 badly damaged the 1894 annex, which was subsequently demolished. Soon after this, Joseph Allan Skinner offered to donate the hotel and the surrounding land to the State of Massachusetts on the condition it became a state park named after him. The formal dedication was held in June 1940.
State funds for maintenance of the summit house and tramway during the intervening years were inadequate. The remains of the tramway were removed in 1964 and by the mid-1970s there were proposals to condemn and demolish the summit house. This led to a public outcry and in the mid-1980s the Summit House, consisting of the original 1851 structure and the 1861 addition, was restored by the State. The Summit House (at
42.300505°N 72.587695°W) is now open to the public only on weekends or for special events such as a summer concert series sponsored by the Friends of the Mt. Holyoke Range
Friends of the Mt. Holyoke Range
The "Friends of the Mount Holyoke Range" is a land conservation non-profit organization dedicated to conserving the land, ecosystem, and history of the Holyoke Range and Mount Tom Range in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts...
(FOMHR).
As of May 2010, the summer house is again in need of repair. The deck and interior have been closed off to the public indefinitely. There is an investigation into what repairs and additions have to be made, but they must be significant enough that the lack of them would pose a threat to the public. The house and deck are perched above where the old tramway used to be, and a collapse would send the structure down all the way to the halfway house. The bid has not yet been made for fundshttp://northamptonmedia.com/p?=1801, but the state is in difficult financial times and thus the fate of the building is in question.