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History · Plainfield

Plainfield dates to 1770, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.

1770founded
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Plainfield began

When was Plainfield founded?

1770

Plainfield dates its founding to 1770 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 458 in 17902020 census: 633256 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1816.The full story ↓

What stands out about Plainfield’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18866 editions of the USGS map, 1886 to 1990. Watch Plainfield change.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1950, then more than doubled.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Plainfield, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Older than the countryEstablished in 1770, 6 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · On the map

Plainfield on the map, 1886 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Plainfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Plainfield on the 1886 USGS mapPlainfield on the 1890 USGS mapPlainfield on the 1947 USGS mapPlainfield on the 1955 USGS mapPlainfield on the 1971 USGS mapPlainfield on the 1990 USGS map1886Hawley sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Plainfield.

People over time

Plainfield, census by census

020040060080018001850190019502000814 in 1850Low: 228

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1950, then more than doubled.

19 censuses, 1790–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Plainfield’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Plainfield’s post office has been open since 1816. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Plainfield
1816–today
West Whatley
1829–1838
West Hawley
1850–1969
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
West Hawley
1cemetery inside Plainfield
Allis

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Plainfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Plainfield.

Read it all →

Plainfield was first settled in 1770, primarily by settlers from the town of Bridgewater, and was officially incorporated as a district within the Town of Cummington in 1785, and as a town on June 15, 1807. Plainfield is the youngest town in Hampshire County.

In the 1800s, Plainfield was a thriving agricultural community, primarily producing sheep and leather for tanning. With the widespread adoption of the steamship, and the resultant globalization in the 1870s, the expense of importing both mutton and leather from Australia and New Zealand was greatly reduced. Consequently, the agricultural industries in Plainfield became less profitable, and the population declined substantially over the following decades.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Plainfield in 1881

Passages that mention Plainfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The first teacher in it was James Richards of Plainfield. Another school house w;ts built near the meeting house, and a third near the house of Ebenezer Putney.
History of the town of Goshen, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1761 to 18811881Read the page →
Read the text

The first teacher in it was James Richards of Plainfield. Another school house w;ts built near the meeting house, and a third near the house of Ebenezer Putney.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Plainfield, 1770 to 1969

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1770
    FoundingPlainfield is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1816Post officeThe Plainfield post office opens
  5. 1829Post officeThe West Whatley post office opens
  6. 1838Post officeThe West Whatley post office closes
  7. 1850Post officeThe West Hawley post office opens
  8. 1850CensusPopulation peaks at 814
  9. 1886On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1891In the archiveImage from page 140 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., from …
  11. 20th century
  12. 1939In the archiveLand Utilization Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 6b396aac901795a5a0936e0e8bdda93b
  13. 1969Post officeThe West Hawley post office closes
By decade

Plainfield, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s7 items
Image from page 140 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., from its settlement to 1891, includ…1891Image from page 140 of "History of the town of Plainf…BookImage from page 140 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass...." (cropped)1891Image from page 140 of "History of the town of Plainf…BookImage from page 166 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., from its settlement to 1891, includ…1891Image from page 166 of "History of the town of Plainf…BookImage from page 170 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass. - from its settlement to 1891, inclu…1891Image from page 170 of "History of the town of Plainf…BookImage from page 176 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass. - from its settlement to 1891, inclu…1891Image from page 176 of "History of the town of Plainf…BookImage from page 84 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., from its settlement to 1891, includi…1891Image from page 84 of "History of the town of Plainfi…BookImage from page 99 of "History of the town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., from its settlement to 1891, includi…1891Image from page 99 of "History of the town of Plainfi…Book
1900s–1920snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1930s3 items
Land Utilization Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 6b396aac901795a5a0936e0e8bdda93b1939Land Utilization Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 6b396aac…Roads and Waterways Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 4ad4a3458bad95fb96ce242f602c276c1939Roads and Waterways Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 4ad4a…Soil Classification Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 1c135d690459d4f7c6905faf3805d7011939Soil Classification Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 1c135…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Land Utilization Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 6b396aac901795a5a0936e0e8bdda93b
Retake this viewLand Utilization Town of Plainfield - DPLA - 6b396aac901795a5a0936e0e8bdda93b, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Plainfield’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Plainfield’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLand Utilization Town of Plainfield - D…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ashfield1 historic placeA+Cummington1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWindsor1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHawley1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSavoy1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Plainfield’s history

What year was Plainfield founded?

In 1770, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Plainfield’s post office opened in 1816, and the first U.S. census counted 458 people here in 1790.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.