Springfield

Springfield exists because the Connecticut River created a natural crossing point that became a crossroads of innovation—then watched that innovation move elsewhere. The 'City of Firsts' earned its nickname through an extraordinary burst of American ingenuity, only to suffer the cruelest fate: watching its children grow up and leave.

The litany of firsts reads like a Cambrian explosion: George Washington established the Springfield Armory in 1777; Thomas Blanchard pioneered interchangeable parts there in 1819, inventing mass production. James Naismith invented basketball at the YMCA Training School in 1891. The Duryea Brothers road-tested America's first gasoline automobile in 1893. Indian Motorcycle became America's first successful motorcycle manufacturer in 1901. Milton Bradley created the Game of Life in 1860. Rolls-Royce opened its first American factory here in the 1920s.

But innovation doesn't guarantee prosperity. Post-war deindustrialization devastated Springfield. The armory closed in 1968 after 191 years. Factories followed. By 2000, Springfield was New England's poorest city, its 'firsts' confined to museums rather than production lines.

The 2018 opening of MGM Springfield represented a $960 million bet—the largest private investment in Western Massachusetts history—that entertainment could replace manufacturing. The casino triggered $3 billion in surrounding development. But as MGM's president admitted in 2023, 'it hasn't gotten where we'd like it to be.'

Springfield's tragedy is path-dependence in reverse: a city that pioneered so much now struggles to pioneer anything new. The Basketball Hall of Fame draws visitors to celebrate a past the present cannot match.