This is Belchertown from the front porch. Doris and Harvey Dickinson have chronicled their little town s history with the humanity and humor that comes from a half-century of paying attention. The fifty stories in this charming collection part history, part reminiscence recall Belchertown s days as the Detroit of the carriage industry and as a genteel summer haven from urban life, while acknowledging the changes brought by the coming of the Belchertown State School and by the dislocation of four nearby communities for the Quabbin Reservoir. Snug in the heart of the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, Belchertown has a rich past, and old-timers and newcomers alike will enjoy the warmth and wit of this patchwork quilt of local history.