page_title: Hinsdale, Massachusetts
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hinsdale, Massachusetts / History
caption_attribution_description: Zoom into this map at maps.bpl.org. Author: Burleigh, L. R. Publisher: L.R. Burleigh Date: [1887?] Location: Hinsdale (Mass.&#160;: Town) Scale: Not drawn to scale. Call Number: G3764.H63A3 1887.B8
context_page_description: Hinsdale is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,032 at the 2010 census.
context_section_description: Originally part of Northern Berkshire Township Number 2 and including all of Peru and parts of Middlefield and Dalton, the town was first settled in 1763 and officially incorporated as "Partridgefield" in 1771. Named for Oliver Partridge, one of the three purchasers of the town (along with Governor Francis Bernard), the Western Parish officially broke away from its eastern half and incorporated in 1804, renaming itself for the family of Rev. Theodore Hinsdale, who also owned an important woolen mill.  The mill was the center of economic activity in town until the Great Depression, when it closed.
  Hinsdale, along with neighboring Dalton, is home to two historic long-distance routes: the Appalachian Trail (a National Scenic Trail) and the Boston and Albany Railroad, on which operates the Lake Shore Limited passenger rail service that has run continuously from Boston to Chicago since 1897. The Hinsdale train depot located in the town center was closed in 1954, and the actual intersection of the two corridors lies at the also decommissioned train depot just north in Dalton.
caption: Print of Hinsdale by L.R. Burleigh with listing of sights
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