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The name
of this town, Greenfield, comes from the verdant fields of the
Green River meadows. Nestled between hills to the north, west and
east there is open, fertile farmland even today. It was this land
that first brought settlers to Greenfield in the decades before
there was a United States of America. Our map history of this town
begins before Greenfield was formally established.
In the late 1600s and early
1700s the western frontier of New England was a dangerous and wild
place. The native peoples (Indians) resisted the expansion of
European settlement in the upper Connecticut River Valley. Armed
strife was fairly common until the 1720s, when there was a period
of peace which led to increased settlement in the valley. Our
first map shows some of the early settlements and town boundaries.
Greenfield was not yet a separate township – it was then part of
the town of Deerfield. This circa 1745 map* (Map 1) shows the
towns along the Connecticut River from Hatfield to what is now
Brattleboro, Vermont. The state line (then a colonial boundary) is
the heavy shaded line. Fort Dummer (Brattleboro) was established
during this period to protect the settlers in the downstream towns
like Northfield, Deerfield and Hatfield. In the middle of this map
are the lands that were soon to become Greenfield. Here we see the
entry "Falls" (Turners Falls) and, downstream, the Deerfield River
extending east-west. Note that the Green River is slightly
misplaced – its confluence with the Deerfield is actually closer
to the Connecticut. Other towns shown here are Colrain (No. 2
Boston) and Bernardston (Fall fight Town.)
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