Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shelburne Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1890Greenfield 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 Shelburne Falls.
Silas Lamson was a 19th-century American inventor and manufacturer of scythe handles, agricultural implements, knives and cutlery. In 1834, Lamson patented a method for manufacturing curved snath handles for scythes used to harvest hay and wheat. The downward curve of the handle was an ergonomic improvement over straight-handled scythes. Three years later he partnered with two of his sons and with Abel Goodnow to found Lamson & Goodnow, a knife manufacturing company, in Shelburne Falls. By the time of the Civil War, the company employed more than 500 workers, making it one of the largest cutlery companies in the United States. The company exists in the 21st century as Lamson, with an outlet store in Shelburne Falls.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Shelburne Falls in 1904
Passages that mention Shelburne Falls, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Greefield, shire town of Franklin county, Massachusetts1904 · page 1198Read the page →
Read the text
Judge David Aiken was a scholar and a graduate of Dartmouth. He taught for some time in the old schoolhouse on School street. He went to Shelburne Falls, Charlemont and Ashfield, staying about three days in one place, a week in the next, and two or three weeks in the next, then settled here. I recall that in the old stage days, when the Mansion House was a stopping-place for the stage. Judge Aiken put his trunk with the baggage that was bound for Boston, by
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
Shelburne Falls, 1798 to 1988
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1907–1915
1907
1907–1915