Ashfield Moving
Ashfield /Town /Franklin /Open town meeting/ 1,822 /1765
Ashfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,800 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Ashfield was first settled in 1743 and was officially incorporated in 1765. The town was originally called "Hunttown" for Captain Ephraim Hunt, who died in King William's War, and who had inherited the land as payment for his services. The first permanent settlement was in 1745, by Richard Ellis, an Irish immigrant from the town of Easton. The town was renamed upon reincorporated, although there is debate over its namesake; it is either for the ash trees in the area, or because Governor Bernard had friends in Ashfield, England. The town had a small peppermint industry in the nineteenth century, but for the most part the town has had a mostly agrarian economy, with some tourism around Ashfield Pond.
Ashfield is located in the southwest corner of Franklin County, along the Hampshire County line. Ashfield lies in the eastern foothills of The Berkshires, with several high hills, including Ridge Hill, in the northern portion of town. The town is fed by several rivers and brooks, including the South River, the "western" Swift River (the "eastern" river flows out of the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts) and several prominent brooks, most of which feed into either the Deerfield River or the Connecticut River. Near the center of town, Ashfield Lake feeds into the South River, and is a recreational site. In the southwest portion of town, a small portion of the Poland Brook Wildlife Management Area crosses into town, as does a portion of the Daughters of the American Revolution State Forest.
The town is at the junction of the north-south Route 112 and the east-west Route 116, which are combined for 1.4 miles south of Ashfield Lake. The town is located approximately twelve miles west of Interstate 91, the nearest interstate to the town. The nearest bus service is in Greenfield, with the nearest small air service being Turners Falls just east of there. The nearest Amtrak service is in either Pittsfield or Springfield, and the nearest national air service is at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
