Montague Town Seal
Montague
Massachusetts
1 Avenue A
Turners Falls, MA 01376
413-863-3200
Contact Us | Hours/Directions

Montague Historical Commission

Contact:

Janel Nockleby, Chair

Address:

1 Avenue A
Turners Falls, MA 01376

email:

 janel.nockleby@gmail.com

Meeting Schedule: Meeting Schedule: Last Monday of the Month

No meetings currently scheduled.

Members

5 of 6 seats. 3 years each seat.

  • Christopher Clawson . June, 2026.
  • Ed Gregory. June, 2026.
  • Jen Viencek. June, 2027.
  • Janel Nockleby, CHAIR. June, 2025.
  • David Brule, Vice Chair. June, 2026.
  • VACANT

Mission

To identify, evaluate and protect important historical assets of Montague, MA.

The MHC honors and remembers Chris Sawyer-Laucanno for his many contributions and brilliant mind in service of the commission, the town, and the people in it.


Interested in joining us?

The Montague Historical Commission welcomes those who might like to join the commission. Our suggestion is to attend a meeting or two via zoom to get better acquainted with the work of the commission, meet commissioners, and tell us about yourself. From there, the Chair may write a letter of recommendation for you to the selectboard for their consideration before voting on your appointment.

Previous meetings:

Historical Commission Files

Historical Commission files

INTRODUCTION

Great Falls

The Montague Historical Commission will be presenting primary and secondary source documents in an effort to support a respectful debate over the future of the village name “Turners Falls.”

Primary sources are generally defined as materials from the time and place of a historical event, individual (biographical) or a broader phenomenon (eg indigenous-European interactions in the 17th C). Secondary sources are histories written after the event, including studies by academic historians and more popular narratives by non-academic writers. There are many gray areas, such as narratives written or remembered by those who lived during an event but were not actually present.

In the historical profession secondary accounts are grounded in primary sources but also contain interpretations or “biases.” Conscientious historians are open about their interpretive framework but try to place their personal views in the context of existing research. The Montague Historical Commission understands that contemporary readers might also approach these documents with a personal bias, but encourages respect for the different ways in which others look at evidence. Finally, despite the disturbing nature of the massacre, we hope that residents will enjoy reading about past times and places that were very different from our own.

ABOUT THE DOCUMENTS

We will not focus soley on the massacre at the falls.The following documents are presented by the MHC to enhance the reader's historical knowledge of local people, placed and events. These documents do not reflect the positions of individual members of the Montague Historical Commission or the MHC as whole.

Battle of Great Falls and King Philip's War

Both reports appear on the Battlefield Grant Advisory Committee page.

Origins of the Name Turners Falls