Archeological Explorations on the Westover Air Reserve Base, Chicopee, Massachusetts

Author(s): Robert E. Reams

Year: 2010

Summary

The United States Air Force (USAF) at the Westover Air Reserve Base had the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) conduct a series of small Phase I surveys through a cooperative agreement between the two agencies. Previous research on the base has identified several areas that were considered to potentially contain sites eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Due to need to clear trees that hinder the flight patterns of the bases’ planes, and the need to construct a softball field to accommodate Army and Navy personnel newly assigned to Westover, the USAF needed the surveying and clearing of three areas totaling 80 acres.

Over the period of nine days, USFS personnel surveyed these three areas for cultural resources. In the Cooley Brook area, five prehistoric locations and two recent Air Force campout spots were discovered. In the Stony Brook area, the remains of one previous discovered prehistoric site and two recent finds were uncovered. In the Willimansett Brook area, nothing was found except recent artifacts.

Since the Cooley Brook area is the least disturbed and had the most cultural resources, the USAF should follow some basic procedures. These basic procedures will assist the USAF with their needs, but also limit the disturbances and the impacts on the area where the cultural resources were located.

Cite this Record

Archeological Explorations on the Westover Air Reserve Base, Chicopee, Massachusetts. Robert E. Reams. 2010 ( tDAR id: 438101) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8438101

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Prehistoric

Material
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Glass • Metal • Metal Air Force Pin • Wood • Wooden Box

Site Name
Cooley Brook • Stony Brook • Willimansett Brook • Willimansett Brook-Westover Prehistoric Site

Site Type
Camp • Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Settlements • Underground Pipeline

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Heritage Management • Historic Background Research • Reconnaissance / Survey • Records Search / Inventory Checking • Site Evaluation / Testing • Systematic Survey

Geographic Keywords
Chicopee, MA • Cooley Brook • Massachusetts (State / Territory) • Stony Brook • Willimansett Brook

Temporal Keywords
1940'S • Cold War Era • World War II

Spatial Coverage

min long: -72.948; min lat: 41.996 ; max long: -71.651; max lat: 42.531 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Westover Air Reserve Base

Prepared By(s): U.S Forest Service

Submitted To(s): Westover Air Reserve Base

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
USFS_Archeo-Explorations-Westover_2010_OCR_PDFA.pdf 46.23mb Feb 1, 2010 Sep 14, 2017 1:47:59 PM Confidential
This file is the unredacted version of the resource.

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Contact(s): Westover Air Reserve Base