Ware, Massachusetts

Ware is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,872 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.The census-designated place of Ware, comprising the main settlement of the town, is in the southeast corner of the town.HistoryWare was first settled on Equivalent Lands in 1717 and was officially incorporated in 1775. It is named after the English town of Ware in Hertfordshire.In 1716 a tract of land which was a little more than in size was granted to John Read. He named it "The Manour of Peace" and had it in mind to develop in the style of an English manor, anticipating that it would later become a very valuable country estate. He leased out the land and did not sell 1acre until after his death, when he gave a gift of 200acre to serve as a ministry lot. As time passed, the town of Ware grew up around the old Congregational meeting house and later became a small center of local manufacturing and commerce.The actual origin of the name "Ware" is thought to be derived from a translation of the Native American word Nenameseck, meaning fishing weir (pronounced "ware"). The weirs were used to capture salmon that were once abundant in New England waterways.