Montague

Montague is five villages: Montague Center, Montague City, Turners Falls, Millers Falls and Lake Pleasant. They call themselves “the five fingers of one hand.” I was born here & my husband and I bought our first place here. Each village has its own unique personality and special highlights worth seeing.

Montague Center is the village furthest south and more eastern. There are lots of beautiful farm houses on the edge of town and the center is very picturesque. Lots of folks in the center of town get very into decorating for any holidays, which is really fun. They have a great Old Home Day celebration in August. There are lots of Grange Hall Dances and other community activities in the Grange. The town is very politically active and there is a great effort to have 100% participation in elections in town – and they are close! Lots of creative people to enjoy and be inspired by. There is a great place: the Montague Book Mill with the Lady Killigrew Pub that is very worthwhile to visit. There are bookstores and there is a large wildlife preserve in the northern end of town that has trails. Also, stop at the package store in the center of town – the folks who run it are fabulous people and it is a great place to run into locals.

Montague City is south western in Montague and has less of a town center than the others it is mostly a residential area. The Farren Care Center (formerly a Catholic Hospital) is located here and the Greenfield/Montague bridge is here also. There is one of the largest hydroelectric generating facilities in Western Massachusetts, Cabot Station. There is also the Northeast Anadromous Fish Research Center, which is operated by the U.S. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Although the mission of this facility is primarily research oriented, the facility does provide selected educational programming for the public. (primarily from http://www.montague.net/content/vtour/m_city.html)

Turners Falls is in the north western part of Montague. There is some controversy over the name of the town as Captain William Turner – who the village was named for – was unethical in his dealings with the native population, to say the least. There is an effort to rename the village Great Falls. It has the most built up downtown of all of the villages. At one time a commune located in Gill, MA owned a good deal of the property in the downtown area. Recent developments in Turners are the new Rail Trail that follows the Ct. River and connects Montague with Deerfield. The new band shell and the Peskeomskut Park renovation. Turners Falls open studio and downtown walking tour. DiPaolo’s Restaurant, Cup O Joe, Roberto’s Restaurant, The Shady Glen, and Turners Falls Pizza. Look for a new consignment shop on Avenue A right next to Cup O Joe’s.

Miller’s Falls is the north eastern village and also has a business district in its downtown area. There is a market, Carrol’s, that has the best meat counter in the area. The Route 63 Road House is in Millers & I strongly suggest a trip – we love this place! The owners are amazing, the atmosphere is super friendly and the shows are awesome – and getting better and better. The upstairs has multiple pool tables and a long standing pool league. Equis Spanish Gardens on Main St. just changed hands and has also been attracting more of a crowd of late.

Lake Pleasant is located in the middle of all the other villages and was originally a spiritual community on the lake. The lake is now part of the town’s watershed & can’t be used recreationally any more. The houses are mostly summer cottages converted into year round homes. It is very cute and quaint. There is a beautiful bridge called the bridge of names that is worth checking out. There are also psychic gatherings held here from time to time & you can go get a cheap palm reading, card reading or channeled reading – which is worth checking out.

A nice backwoods town worth visiting