Ripen, then leave

The Big E is New England's collective state fair. On the Avenue of the States, each of the six New England States owns its own plot of land and a replica state house.

— Photo by John Phelan 

“Springfield, Massachusetts, is place to be from. Talented people ripen in Springfield, then move away to bigger cities to make their fortune.’’

James C. O’Connell, in Pioneer Valley Reader (1995)

Main Street in Springfield in 1908, when industry and other business there was booming.