When you take a close look at the Massachusetts–Connecticut border and, about halfway across the state, you’ll notice something unusual. Instead of continuing in a straight line, Southwick, Massachusetts dips roughly two and a half miles south “into” Connecticut. This distinctive feature is known as the “Southwick Jog” and not surprisingly, has a complicated history rooted in long-standing boundary disputes between not just the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Connecticut, but also the citizens of the border towns themselves, who had distinct opinions about where they belonged.
The “Jog” as it appears on today’s maps was formed by compromises on all sides made after more than a century and a half of disagreements over where Massachusetts ended and Connecticut began. In 1642, Massachusetts hired surveyors Nathaniel Woodward and Solomon Saffery to establish the colony’s southern boundary. Rather than survey the entire route overland, they traveled by ship and up the Connecticut River, attempting to identify the proper latitude from there. Their resulting boundary fell several miles farther south than later surveys indicated it should have.
After three more surveys, a boundary was established in 1713, but disagreements remained—especially concerning the towns of Suffield, Enfield, and Woodstock, whose residents wanted to join Connecticut, and which were eventually annexed by that colony in 1749. The larger boundary dispute lingered as attention turned to more pressing events happening during this time with England, so nothing was resolved as time passed.
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| Shown in a more modern map |
Southwick town itself also presented its own problem--some residents living south of the formerly established boundary petitioned Connecticut in 1774, arguing that their land properly belonged within that colony. Connecticut accepted their petition, but Massachusetts did not abandon its claim to the land solely as a matter of principle, not size, since it was only about 12.5 square miles in total.
Massachusetts appointed commissioners to work with Connecticut to resolve the boundary dispute in 1803 and proposed dividing the disputed territory at the Congamond Lakes and a final agreement was reached in 1804--the land east of the lakes went to Connecticut, while the western portion remained part of Massachusetts as part of Southwick. According to accounts, Massachusetts received about five-eighths of the disputed territory and Connecticut about three-eighths. The end result is the distinctive geographical feature that remains a unique curiosity and, in my opinion, a perfect illustration of sheer New England stubbornness at work. Either that, or—as my favorite explanation I came across in my research has it—the “Jog” is simply what keeps Massachusetts from sliding into the sea!
Judy Carlstrom
Head of Technical Services
Atlas Maps from:
Massachusetts Board of Harbor and Land Commissioners, Atlas
of the boundaries of the city of Holyoke and towns of Agawam, Blandford,
Chester, Granville, Montgomery, Russell, Southwick, Tolland, Westfield, West
Springfield, Hampden County : City of Northampton and towns of Chesterfield,
Easthampton, Goshen, Hatfield, Huntington, Southampton, Westhampton,
Williamsburg, Worthington, Hampshire County : Whately, Franklin County,
1914.
Online version: http://hdl.handle.net/2452/47873
