Turners Falls isn't a town actually, but one of five villages that make up the town of Montague. Each of the "five fingers on one hand" (to quote from the town seal) — Turners Falls, Millers Falls, Lake Pleasant, Montague City and Montague Center — has a distinct personality, rich cultural history and charm all its own. Over the years the apostrophe, which was intended to make the name Turner's Falls, was dropped and the village has been known as Turners Falls since.

The largest of the villages, Turners Falls was founded in 1868. Rev. E. Hitchcock is said to have given the village its name, after Capt. William Turner, leader of the colonists who destroyed hundreds of Pocumtuck Indians (in a bloody massacre) at the famous "falls fight." But the town wasn't settled until Alvah Crocker (where have I heard that name before?), a prominent Fitchburg man, envisioned a planned industrial community there. Crocker’s idea was to attract industry by offering cheap hydro power through the construction of a dam and canal on the mighty Connecticut River. His development concept was to sell mill sites along the power canal and then sell individual building lots to mill workers. The rest of the village was laid out in a horizontal grid pattern with the main avenues labeled alphabetically and the cross streets numerically. Avenue A, the main commercial district, was designed as a grand 100 foot wide, tree lined avenue. The factory owners lived on "the hill" overlooking the village, thus from the start creating a class consciousness that has haunted the town to this day.

Though Turners Falls never quite experienced the scale of development initially envisioned by its founder, the village did grow significantly. In its heyday, it was home to such companies as John Russell Cutlery (manufacturer of the "Bowie" knife), Montague Paper, Keith Paper, Turners Falls Paper, Marshall Paper, the Turners Falls Cotton Mill and Turners Falls Power Company (1885), the forerunner of Western Massachusetts Electric Company and Northeast Utilities. The later is the only one of these companies to still have a stake in the village. Only the mill buildings (some with new tenants, some vacant) remain, brick and mortar ghosts of the industrial revolution.

At the turn of the century, though, downtown Turners Falls was a vibrant place indeed. From 1895 - 1934, an electric trolley ran up Avenue A on its route from Greenfield to Montague and Millers Falls. The Grand Trunk Hotel was among the most prominent buildings on the village’s main street. There were taverns and the Colle Opera House, a vaudeville theater seating 1,000 people. Today, the town's architecture is sadly all that's left of its former glory. There have been restoration efforts on the opera house, the Shea Theatre and the Crocker Building (which was almost destroyed in a tragic fire set by runaway youth several years ago). But Turners itself is struggling to survive, a town with lots of potential but little money. Though the majority of the town is still white, there is a growing diversity, including new African American, Latino, Russian, Asian and Mexican residents. And that has made racism yet another problem for the town to face, along with economic disparity, the lack of youth activities, and (currently) the fight to keep control of MCTV, the town's community cable access channel, with Montague Community Cable rather than under the control of GCTV, rival Greenfield's community access station.

But don't get me wrong. Turners certainly has its attractions, and for me, one of its brightest star is the Shady Glen Diner. This modest building located just over the bridge on Avenue A is home to the hardest working, most well-organized breakfast crew in the world. Led by Penny at the grill and Nancy and Carol waiting tables and the counter, the Shady Glen is not just an eatery, it's an experience. In fact, we call it "the morning bar." Populated by regulars who get routinely harassed by the waitresses (and love it), it's a constant whirlwind of activity. And the food's great, too, whether at breakfast, lunch or dinner.

On the educational front, there's The Fish Ladder and Fish Viewing Facility. Operated by Northeast Utilities Company, it was built in the early 1980’s to facilitate fish passage by Turners Falls Dam and generate facilities on the power canal. The Fish Viewing Facility gives viewers a chance to observe anadromous fish (shad and occasional salmon), through an aquarium-like viewing window, as they make their way up the Connecticut River each spring. Located at the Turners Falls dam, the viewing facility is open Wednesday through Sunday, mid-May through June. Parking is available behind the Town Hall and admission is free.

The town's other main attraction, The Visitor’s Center, expected to be completed in 2002, will consist of nearly $1 million in interpretive exhibits and environmental educational programs on the Connecticut River and watershed, from its source near the Canadian border to the Long Island Sound, 400 miles to the south. Admission to the center will be free of charge to the visiting and resident public.

A place "waiting for something to happen," Turners Falls will almost certainly experience a renaissance over the next decade or so. Its residents are fighters and the sentiment to rebuild the village's economy is too strong to let it continue to go the way of so many Massachusetts mill towns. It'll take equal parts of inspiration and perspiration (maybe a brew-pub) to bring the town back, but I'm betting it'll happen. And I can't wait to see the day it does. In the meantime, you'll find Don and I at the Shady Glen, catching up with our neighbors and enjoying our usual (same and same) sumptuous breakfast.

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