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Hatfield Center Historic District

1661 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay ColonyHatfield, MassachusettsHistoric districts in Hampshire County, MassachusettsHistoric districts on the National Register of Historic Places in MassachusettsNRHP infobox with nocat
National Register of Historic Places in Hampshire County, MassachusettsUse mdy dates from August 2023
Center School Hatfield, Massachusetts DSC01888
Center School Hatfield, Massachusetts DSC01888

The Hatfield Center Historic District encompasses the traditional center of Hatfield, Massachusetts. The area, first laid out in 1661, is bounded by Maple Street to the south, the Connecticut River to the east, Day Avenue and School Street to the north, and the Mill River to the west. The area's layout and land use patterns are relatively little altered since they were laid out, leaving a well-preserved early colonial village landscape. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Hatfield Center Historic District (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Hatfield Center Historic District
Valley Street,

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Latitude Longitude
N 42.361944444444 ° E -72.600277777778 °
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Valley Street

Valley Street
01038
Massachusetts, United States
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Center School Hatfield, Massachusetts DSC01888
Center School Hatfield, Massachusetts DSC01888
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Old Mill Site Historic District
Old Mill Site Historic District

The Old Mill Site Historic District in Hatfield, Massachusetts encompasses the site of a late 19th century mill. It is one of only two such sites in the town. The centerpiece of the district is the former Shattuck Gun Factory building (built 1881), which in 1989 housed newspaper offices and in 2006 a bed and breakfast. The district, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, includes three other elements: an 1891 Warren pony truss bridge across the Mill River, now closed to traffic, and a machine shop and garage (located across the river from the mill), both built in 1886. The district was also included in the larger Mill-Prospect Street Historic District in 2002.The mill site has a history of industrial use since 1661, when Thomas Meekins was granted water rights on the falls, and established a grist mill. He eventually also built a sawmill. Additional mills were built in the early 19th century, including a sawmill which spanned the river. This site was one of Hatfield's major industrial employers in the 19th century. In 1865, the complex was adapted for the production of guns, first by Henry Porter and later by Charles Shattuck. Most of the existing buildings were destroyed in a fire, and Shattuck built the existing mill building in 1881.The main mill building is a three-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. It is seventeen bays long and six wide, and is capped by a cupola with a pagoda-shaped roof. Its foundation is set partly in the river, with its water power provided through a penstock to a turbine chamber in the basement.

Elm Street Historic District (Hatfield, Massachusetts)
Elm Street Historic District (Hatfield, Massachusetts)

The Elm Street Historic District is a rural historic district in southern Hatfield, Massachusetts. It encompasses a landscape that has seen agricultural use since 17th century colonial days, including fields now used for tobacco farming, and historic properties located along five roads: Elm Street, Scotland Road, Sunset Road, Brook Hollow Road, and Little Neponset Road. The district is bounded on its south by the Connecticut River, on its east and north by the Mill River, with a small portion of land border in the northeast which cuts off a large meander in the river. This section, near the junction of Elm and Prospect Streets, is also where this district abuts the Mill-Prospect Street Historic District, which runs north along Prospect Street, and its eastern boundary abuts the Hatfield Center Historic District. Its western boundary is roughly a north-south line in the area of the junction of Elm and Dwight Streets.Most of the buildings in the district are either residential or agricultural in nature, and the district includes the agricultural fields lying south of Elm Street, as well as important agricultural buildings such as tobacco drying barns. The houses in the district stylistically represent the long history of the period, and most home construction in the area had ended by the 1940s. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.Hatfield was settled in the mid-17th century, and was incorporated as a town in 1670. The Elm Street area was originally common agricultural land, with land along Elm Street formally platted for residential development in 1683. Growth was generally slow, with a significant uptick in new construction after American independence in the late 19th century. Unlike the more prosperous town center, the Elm Street area saw the construction of utilitarian agricultural worker housing. It also saw the growth of some small cottage industries, such as broom-making which were also found in other parts of the town. Tobacco was a major and highly successful crop in the area, resulting in the construction of many tobacco barns. A trolley line built in 1900 on Elm Street to Northampton spurred additional development in the early 20th century.