The Indians called it Squakheag - the place where the Ashuelot River met the Connecticut. Here there was good fishing because rocks and fast water interrupted the great river’s otherwise placid flow to make a place where great quantities of fish could be taken with relative ease. The native peoples who lived here left no maps, but the sites they valued most were along the rivers where, centuries later, their successors still live.

The shaping of Hinsdale’s boundaries makes for an interesting story. This town was not created out of the wilderness at one time like most New England towns. Instead, it evolved over several decades during a time of political and military strife. Hinsdale’s origins were influenced by the Indian wars of the time, and by the political rivalries among the major New England colonies. We begin this map history of Hinsdale before the town was established.

The first map shows this area about 1745. In the middle of this picture we see the Ashuelot River meeting the Connecticut at a place called Winchester, just above Northfield. Here, out of both Northfield and Winchester, Hinsdale will be established. These towns are all Massachusetts-created entities. This area was settled from the south, where Massachussetts had several old settlements. New Hampshire’s settlements were many miles to the east and Vermont did not exist. Other towns shown here are Swanzey and Keene (Lower and Upper Ashuelot), Richmond (Canada to Sylvester) Chesterfield ( No. 1) and Guilford, Vermont (Canada Gallop). The dark band crossing the map is the New Hampshire Province Line, which the King of England set in 1740.