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| With travel by stagecoach at this time, it was important to have a stopping place between cities. Brimfield, being
about halfway between Springfield and Worcester, a hotel was a necessity as well as a place for former residents to stay
when returning home. Coaches ran from Springfield to Providence, and from Hartford to Boston. According to Anna Tarbell,
as many as 11 coaches may have run through Brimfield daily. There were three hotels in Brimfield from 1808 to 1941 (except for 1890-1898) - all situated on the same lot, what is now the Hitchcock Academy parking lot. It's difficult to imagine that a hotel of its size could fit on that lot! A livery stable and blacksmith shop were usually attached to the hotel for the stages to change teams of horses in their long trips between cities. It was said that in the early days "all that was needed to keep a hotel going was a barrel ofpork, a barrel of potatoes and a barrel of RUM." |
 First Hotel |
 Second Hotel |
 Third Hotel |