7 Day Ashfield MA Weather Forecast
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Ashfield MA is located in Franklin County, Massachusetts. It’s a community of around 2 thousand people. Official Website. View more than 100+ attractions.
Scenic Photo of Ashfield MA below (Click photo for larger version which opens in new window)
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Information and History
Ashfield MA has its own town website. Here are some quick links from the site: Agendas and Minutes, Ashfield Documents, Downloadable Forms, Online Bill Pay, Hours and Information, Calendar, and Bids.
From wikipedia: Ashfield was first settled in 1743 and was officially incorporated in 1765. The town was originally called “Huntstown” 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 reincorporation, 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 the birthplace of prominent director Cecil B. DeMille (whose parents were vacationing in the town at the time), Alvan Clark, nineteenth century astronomer and telescope maker, and William S. Clark, member of the Massachusetts Senate and third president of Massachusetts Agricultural College (now UMass Amherst).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.3 square miles (104.3 km2), of which 40.0 square miles (103.6 km2) is land and 0.27 square miles (0.7 km2), or 0.62%, is water.] Ashfield is located in the southwest corner of Franklin County, along the Hampshire County line. Ashfield is bordered by Buckland to the north, Conway to the east, Goshen to the south, Cummington to the southwest, Plainfield to the west, and Hawley to the northwest. Ashfield is 15 miles (24 km) west-southwest of Greenfield, 35 miles (56 km) north-northwest of Springfield, and 105 miles (169 km) west-northwest of Boston.
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 (2.3 km) south of Ashfield Lake. The town is located approximately 12 miles (19 km) 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 Greenfield, Northampton, or Pittsfield, and the nearest international air service is at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Ashfield employs the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a board of selectmen and a town administrator. All of the town’s services are located in the town center, including the town hall, police and fire departments, as well as the Belding Memorial Library and the town’s post office. The nearest hospital, Franklin Medical Center, is located in Greenfield, as are most of the nearest state offices.
Ashfield is a member of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, which covers nine towns.] Sanderson Academy serves the town’s students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, and also serves neighboring Plainfield. All district students from grades 7-12 attend Mohawk Trail Regional High School in neighboring Buckland. There are several private, religious and charter schools located in the Greenfield area, with the most prominent being Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, and the Academy at Charlemont in Charlemont.
The nearest community college, Greenfield Community College, is located in Greenfield. The nearest state college is Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, and the nearest state university is the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The nearest private colleges, including members of the Five Colleges and Seven Sisters, are located southeast in the Northampton area.
Other interesting Ashfield MA information:
Ashfield MA Photos
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