Editing New Marlborough, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==

New Marlborough was established as one of the four townships opened along the road between [[Sheffield, Massachusetts|Sheffield]] and [[Westfield, Massachusetts|Westfield]]. The land was purchased from the local Native Americans (a band of [[Mohican Indians]]) by 72 proprietors from [[Marlborough, Massachusetts]] and vicinity, and the deed to the land was certified by the General Court in Boston in 1736. Most of the land was divided into 60-acre parcels for settlement, which started in 1739 and proceeded quickly during the 1740s. The town was officially incorporated in 1775, and named after the home town of the original proprietors.<ref>Field, David D, and Dewey, Chester, eds. 1829. A History of the County of Berkshire, Massachusetts.  Available from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/historyofcountyo00fiel .</ref> The town grew as a combination of agriculture in the area around the town center, and mills along the rivers in town. Today it is mostly rural, with little to no industry.