Special Features - Slideshow

Orra White Hitchcock's Landscapes

"Gorge Between Holyoke and Tom", 1833, 8 1/8 in x 10 5/16 in. Image courtesy of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association/Memorial Hall Museum.

About this Image

The view is lovely, but not nearly as dramatic as gorges described elsewhere in Edward Hitchcock's 1841 "Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, and Zoology of Massachusetts," so he does not even mention the gorge when he describes Mt. Holyoke and Mt. Tom. Instead, he compares the mountains: "[Mt. Tom] is higher than Holyoke, and insulated in the same great valley, the view from its summit cannot but be commanding; yet . . . Tom is not much frequented; while during the summer months, Holyoke is a place of great resort."