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Edward Monroe Alden (February 17 1844 - November 28, 1911) was an American businessman, and a landowner of tract housing that would later become known as Aldenville in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

Aldenville

In the 1880s, Edward purchased a 600-acre tract of land for a total sum of $9,000 dollars with plans of making “a little city on the hill.” He immediately began dividing land into lading lots, naming the area after himself as the "Aldenville" neighborhood of Chicopee. Alden would offer free trolley rides to factory workers from the Falls and Chicopee Center, promoting the place as the ideal place to live. He would advertise his real estate in both English and French, attracting the attention of the French-Canadian immigrants to the area.

The small community began to grow, when Marcele and Mary Croteau of West Springfield purchased the first lot on the corner of Grattan and Mary Streets becoming the first settlers in the area. Marcele, a carpenter, would go on to build a total of 30 homes in Aldenville, the Aldenville School, and the original Ste. Rose de Lima Church.

Chicopee Fire Station #7, Aldenville Massachusetts

On September 23, 1897. Alden, donated a 34,000 square foot plot of land, situated at the corner of Grattan and Chapel Streets; but his sole condition was that a chapel be built and outfitted for worship within one year. Construction broke ground on November 29th. Marcele built a 42-foot wooden framed building, two and a half stories high chapel. With the first Mass taking place on April 17th 1898.

As a new generation of French-Canadian families built their own homes, Aldenville grew from scattered farm houses to a tight-knit little community.

Around 1910, Father Fredette and the church would purchase 39 acres for a cemetery, thus becoming Sainte Rose Cemetery or Saint Rose de Lima Cemetery. He would also purchase the land between Percy and Trilby streets. In 1925, the church held a fund raising effort that lasted 3 years and raised $130,000.00 for a new school. The school was built to have 16 classes, accommodate 900 students, and was completed in October 1927. The church would name the school after their patroness St. Joan of Arc, as a symbol of faith and courage.

Label for "Canoe Club" brand strawberry soda, by the E. Ducharme Bottling & Soda Works of Aldenville.

Historic Buildings in Aldenville

Photo	Name	Current Address	Year Built	Note	Fate
	None	743 Grattan St	1910?	Land was purchased by Marcele and Mary Croteau of West Springfield. First home built in Aldenville	*Possibly rebuilt
June of 2024.	Ste. Rose de Lima Church	600 Grattan St	1898	Land donated by Edward Alden. Marcele built the original wooden church in 1898.	42-foot wooden framed building, two and a half stories high chapel demolished in 1951. Replaced in 1954 with light brick with Indiana limestone trimming and is of modernistic architecture.
	Sainte Rose Cemetery	49 Olsen St	1910	Built by Ste. Rose de Lima Church and Father Fredette.	Example
June of 2024.	St. Joan of Arc school	857 Grattan St	1927	Built by Ste. Rose de Lima Church and Rev. Jean B. Lamothe.	Replaced smaller school.
None	Example	Example	Example	Example

Personal Life

Edward is a direct descendant of John Alden, who came over on the Mayflower in 1620.

Family

At the age of 31, Edward Alden had his first child with Ida Amelia Smith (c. 1855–1891), a son named Edward Smith Alden, on August 18, 1875. They had six children in total: Edward, Ida, Percy, Edith, John, and William.[1]

External Links

Ste. Rose de Lima Parish History