1895 Map of Chesterfield

About this map

Westfield River and its numerous tributaries, including the Middle Branch of Westfield River and Swift River, carve through the hill country of the eastern Berkshires in this late nineteenth-century survey. The landscape is defined by small, isolated settlements and localized industry, evidenced by the Bisbee Mill and scattered hamlets like Jordansville and Knightsville. The Boston and Albany Railroad skirts the southwestern corner through Chester, while a network of rural roads connects agricultural pockets such as Ireland Street and Shack Street. High points like Mt Pisgah and Kidds Lookout offer a view of a region defined by steep topography and narrow river valleys, where water power and rail access dictated the growth of nineteenth-century Massachusetts towns.