mherst lies in the Connecticut River valley just northeast of Northampton. It includes the communities of North Amherst, Amherst, and South Amherst. The town of Hadley adjoins it on the west. Settled as part of Hadley in the 1730s, Amherst was recognized in 1759 as a separate district and was incorporated as a town in 1775 and has developed principally as an educational center.

Amherst, Massachusetts began life as an outgrowth of Hadley, a neighboring town nestled against the Connecticut River. Hadley Third Precinct (or East Swamp as it was also called) had been used by Native Americans for thousands of years as a place to live, hunt, fish and perhaps cultivate crops. In the 1720s the land was parceled out and settlers of European and African descent began to call it home. 

Though the land was less suitable than that along the water, agriculture soon took hold. Typical crops included corn, rye, and wheat, as well as feed crops such as hay (in later centuries tobacco would also be added). Cattle were raised, as were pigs and sheep. Oxen and horses were brought in as needed for transportation and labor.

By the middle of the 18th century, the population was large enough to petition the governor of Massachusetts, asking to be set off from Hadley as a separate town. “Norwottuk” was the name they chose and the name of the Native peoples who had first settled the land. In 1759 it was decided that this community should be a separate town, but no action was taken until 1777. Then the town was named “Amherst” in honor of Lord Jeffery Amherst, hero of the French and Indian War and close friend of the Governor of Massachusetts.

By the beginning of the 19th century, Amherst had grown by leaps and bounds. The town center had shifted from West to East, and distinct North and South sections had evolved. What was once a single-church town was now overseen by three towering Congregational steeples. The menu of religions was about to change, however, and by the end of the 19th century people of Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian, and Zion built their own places of worship within town limits.

From late in the 18th century, there were small schools at every end of this expanding town. This focus on education inspired the creation of Amherst Academy, a small, private college prep school. It was out of this elite nucleus that Amherst College evolved, founded in 1821. In 1863 Amherst gained another institute of higher learning, Massachusetts Agricultural School, now the University of Massachusetts. Amherst now has three colleges within its borders, the last being Hampshire College, founded in 1972.

Before education became the town’s primary focus and industry factories, large and small, were cropping up. The first, founded in 1795, was a paper factory, one of many such enterprises established in North Amherst. Subsequent industries situated around town included wool, wire, hoop skirt, wood plane, wagon, and sled manufactures. The most successful of these were Roberts’ Paper Manufacturing, James Kellogg’s Wood Planes, Knowles and Thayer Carriages (they supplied Andrew Jackson’s carriage), and the Hill’s Hat Factory, which, by the late 19th century, was employing over 400 people and manufacturing over a million hats per year. Much of this latter business’ success can be attributed to first and second-generation Irish immigrants who provided much of the workforce, and the railroad, which came to into town in 1853.

People of African heritage have played an important role in this town from the day it was first parceled out. They first came as slaves along with the new landowners, then as free persons looking for work or a new home. As the 19th century progressed, they also came seeking refuge from slavery, some using the clandestine channels of the Underground Railroad. The first person of color to own a business did so in the early 1840s – an ice cream shop - and the town still has Black-owned businesses today.

Amherst has been, and still is, the home of notable literary figures. Emily Dickinson was born here and, in fact spent little time elsewhere. Noah Webster, the great dictionary man lived in Amherst for some time and had a hand in founding Amherst College and Helen Hunt Jackson, author of “Ramona” a stirring tale of the plight of the Native Americans was born and raised here. 20th century poets Robert Frost and Robert Francis well as 19th century poet Eugene Field all called Amherst home for a time. The current community has also has many distinguished authors and artists within its boundaries.

Architecturally, Amherst is a feast for the eyes. From early 18th century Georgian, mid-19th century Italianate, through to turn of the century Arts & Crafts, the homes of Amherst show a variety of tastes, times and a sense of historic preservation and pride. 

Noah Webster lived in the town (1812-22) while working on his dictionary and was one of the founders of Amherst College, which was established in 1821. The University of Massachusetts was founded at Amherst in 1863 as an agricultural land-grant college; its central campus covers 1,400 acres and contains more than 160 buildings. Hampshire College, which lies south of the town, opened in 1970. The county's academic community also includes the prominent women's institutions of Smith College (1875) and Mount Holyoke College (1837), both within 10 miles (16 km) of Amherst.

A number of homes of literary interest are in the town, including those of the poet Emily Dickinson, the poet-novelist Helen Hunt Jackson, and the poet Robert Frost. Area: 28 square miles (73 square km). Pop. (1990) 35,228; (1996 est.) 35,468.


To find out more about Amherst’s history, visit the Amherst History Museum’s page.