The small town of Stockbridge was chartered in 1761, but was not settled until the 1780s. At that time Elias Keyes was granted land in the town, on the condition that he build a saw mill and grist mill. He chose a site on the White Riverfor the mills, a few miles above its confluence with the Tweed River. On a terrace north of the mill site he began to build a house, and gave land for use as the town common and cemetery; this area became what is now the village of Stockbridge Common. Although the village has some of the trappings of a town center, including a church and district schoolhouse, it was not economically successful, owing to its distance from the river and its placement on a rise above more convenient travel routes along the river. The village was eclipsed in the 19th century by the village of Gaysville, located on the White River, whose industries were decimated by Vermont's devastating 1927 floods.