May 26—A new book about the history of Springfield and the surrounding area titled Around Springfield," has been released.

Authors Nancy Einreinhofer and Suzanne Goodrich, members of the Springfield Historical Society, spent months compiling information about Springfield for the town's 225th anniversary last year and decided after the celebration ended to start compiling the exhibits they created into a book, they said. Goodrich said they wrote it from September to December and had to adhere to specific guidelines set forth by the publisher, Arcadia. "There are so many pages and photographs allowed," Einreinhofer said. The pair said they picked Arcadia because it is a well-known publisher of historical non-fiction books.

Goodrich, a retired associate professor of math and science at Herkimer Community College, said they had a hard time eliminating the photos they weren't going to use. "We have enough for two or three more volumes of books," she said of the photos in the historical society's possession.

However, Einreinhofer, an art curator, said they are "leaving that for another generation to do."

The book chronicles the history of the Springfield area from when Dutch traders came up the Hudson River in the mid-1600s and explored the area to today, a media release said. The book includes the time of the Revolutionary War, when Springfield and the surrounding settlements were burned by Joseph Brant, and George Washington ordered the Clinton-Sullivan Campaign to break the power of the Iroquois Six Nations as a result. Following the war, the Great Western Turnpike (now U.S. Route 20) was extended westward in 1808, and Springfield, a farming community, developed more businesses to accommodate a growing population, the release said. The book includes hops and dairy farming history and today's attractions, including Glimmerglass State Park on Otsego Lake, Glimmerglass Music Festival, and the second-oldest Fourth of July parade in the nation, the release said.

"There's an entire chapter on the Fourth of July parade," Goodrich said.

The duo are not natives to Springfield, they said. "I chose this place because it is beautiful and people are friendly," Einreinhofer said. Goodrich said when she and her husband graduated from college, he got his one and only teaching job at the school.

Einreinhofer said she enjoyed learning about the six estates that were built during the gilded age and used as summer homes by wealthy people living in New York City and Chicago. "They had beautiful estates, with carriage houses and boat houses," she said. "They would take a steamboat from Springfield to Cooperstown on Otsego Lake." She said the estates reminded her of the cottages of Newport or mansions on Long Island.

Einreinhofer said Kate Gray released "History of Springfield," in 1935, and her book was only text. "Our book is a wonderful supplement to it," she said.

Goodrich continued, "It also brings it up to date."

Goodrich said the pair is donating any royalties they receive through the sale of the book to the historical society.

The book is available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, and locally at the Fenimore Art Museum, the Farmers' Museum, Hyde Hall and at the historical society.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.