Northfield — Natural Features
Extracted from "History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Volume II," by Louis H. Everts, 1879.
The surface of the town is hilly in the east and southeast, but on the west, along the river, there stretches a fertile plain, the soil of which is a deep alluvial.
Besides the Connecticut, there are innumerable small streams, mostly mountain brooks. The hilly range which extends through the length of the town on the east contains many prominent eminences, such as South Mountain, Crag Mountain, and Beers Mountain (the latter so named by reason of Capt. Richard Beers having been killed there by the Indians in 1675 and buried near) on the south, and, passing farther north, Brush, Round, Hemlock, Notch, Stratton, Pine, and other mountains.
Among the natural curiosities may be noticed the Ice-House and Rattlesnake Den, on Brush Mountain, and Cold Spring, near, where, in a mountain fissure, snow and ice are sometimes found as late as August. There are numerous rocks, tracts of plain and other spots, to which tradition has given names, and concerning which notable incidents were recorded in Northfield's early history.
Clark's Island, in the Connecticut River, north of Northfield Farms, was granted to the town by William Clarke, in 1686, and was once supposed to be one of the many spots where the pirate Kidd had deposited untold treasures. It is sometimes called Field's Island and Stratton's Island. About two miles east of Northfield village Jewell Basset owns a quarry, whence an excellent quality of granite is taken in considerable quantity.
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19 Jul 2005
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