River Street was at the western end of the 3rd Division land grants of 1643 and tobacco was grown here for over 200 years. Because the land was so highly prized as farmland and because annual spring floods created very difficult living conditions, this section of West Springfield was sparsely populated.
The building of the railroad in 1841 and the construction of the dike and flood control system, by the United States Corp of Engineers in 1939, paved the way for increased development in the area and houses gradually came to replace tobacco barns.
In 1946, under the Federal “Veteran’s Emergency Housing Act”, family housing units were constructed for returning World War II veterans. In order to provide the housing, some of the property of Brainerd Nims, owner of the Nims’ Lumber Company, was purchased. Barracks from Bradley Field, in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, were erected on the land bordering Baldwin and River Streets. The project was named Nim’s Village. The Village remained in use until July 1950, when permanent housing was made available and the buildings were demolished.
The present Memorial School and playground were dedicated in 1952. By the entrance to the school is a stone with a plaque to remind us of the veterans, in the Memorial Neighborhood, who served during the Second World War.