Pioneer Valley - Greenfield

Greenfield

Pocumtuck Indians first settled and originally inhabited the Greenfield area. Native American artifacts found in the area have been dated as originating between 7,000 to 9,000 years BC. The Pocumtucks planted field crops and fished the rivers, but were wiped out as a tribe by the Mohawks in 1664. Thereafter, the newly unoccupied area - being the eastern terminus of the Mohawk Trail, a principal route for Native American trade traveling west into New York - was colonized by the English in 1686 as part of Deerfield. In 1753, Greenfield was set off from Deerfield and incorporated as a separate town, named for the Green River.

In 1795, the South Hadley Canal opened, allowing boats to bypass the South Hadley falls and reach Greenfield via the Connecticut River. Located at the confluence of the Deerfield and Green rivers, and not far from where they merge into the Connecticut River, Greenfield developed into a trade center. It was designated county seat when Franklin County was created from Hampshire County in 1811. Falls provided water power for industry, and Greenfield grew into a prosperous mill town.