Editing Williamsburg, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==
[[File:Haydenville, Mass. (2674706216).jpg|thumb|left|Print of Haydenville from 1886 by [[L. R. Burleigh]] with listing of landmarks depicted]]

The area was first settled in 1735 and was officially incorporated in 1771.  In addition to the main village of Williamsburg near the center of town, the town includes the villages of Haydenville and Searsville. Haydenville is now recognized by the [[Haydenville Historic District]]. The Mill River flows southeast from Williamsburg village, where the East and West branches join, through Haydenville and into Northampton, on its way to the Connecticut River.

Searsville (+42° 24' 00.00", −72° 43' 58.00) is referenced three times in the 1904 book ''Hampshire County History''<ref>''Hampshire County History'', 1904, 300th Anniv Comm., p.&nbsp;300, 315, 317ff.</ref> on the highway between Williamsburg and Goshen approximately one mile above the center of the village, is the settlement of Searsville. In 1795, Rufus Hyde moved his blacksmith shop down from Meetinghouse Hill to the banks of the stream in what was soon to become the industrial community of Searsville. Shortly after the turn of the 18th century, three or four small shops were established in Wmsbg and Searsville to specialize in the final processing of these [woolen] goods. the fulling, dying [sic] and dressing operations. It was not until 1813 that spinning and weaving moved from household to factory. In 1819 Nathaniel Sears (1796–1886) son of Rufus Sears and Priscilla Sears built a small shop for the dressing of woolen cloth in this community which became known as Searsville.

[[Massachusetts Route 9]] is the main highway through the town, leading southeast {{convert|7|mi|0}} to the center of Northampton and west {{Convert|33|mi}} to [[Pittsfield, Massachusetts|Pittsfield]]. [[Massachusetts Route 143]] leads west from Williamsburg village to [[Chesterfield, Massachusetts|Chesterfield]] and [[Worthington, Massachusetts|Worthington]].

===The Mill River flood===
On the morning of May 16, 1874, a flood along Williamsburg's [[Mill River (Northampton, Massachusetts)|Mill River]] claimed 139 lives and left nearly 800 victims homeless throughout Hampshire County. The deluge occurred when the [[Williamsburg Reservoir Dam]] unexpectedly burst, sending a twenty-foot wall of water surging into the valley below. Every town and village along the river's normally placid flow was soon devastated by the great rush of water. Much of the flood's force was abated in [[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton]], at the Mill River's confluence with the [[Connecticut River]]. Located over twelve miles from the breached dam in Williamsburg, Northampton was the last town to experience the flood's fury, with four additional victims swept away in the swell.<ref>Elizabeth M. Sharpe, In the Shadow of the Dam, Free Press, New York, 2004, pages 238-239</ref>