The town of Hawley is hill country, made up mainly of steep, forested slopes with a few fertile valleys. Located far from the large fertile valleys of the Connecticut and Housatonic rivers, the lands around Hawley were settled relatively late by those of European descent. The lands were purchased after the General Court released them in 1762 as Town No. 7, during a period of large-scale land speculation. Settlers did not come until the early 1770s. Hawley was incorporated in 1792 and named in honor of Joseph Hawley, a leading citizen of Northampton, Massachusetts. In the 18th and 19th centuries, agriculture remained Hawley’s major industry although some other industries thrived, such as an iron mine and a forge in the town’s southwest corner. Hawley’s population, as in many western Massachusetts towns, peaked in 1820. That year it had 1,089 inhabitants while by 1895 it had only about 600. In 1990 Hawley’s population was 317, up from 280 in 1980. Ironically, Hawley’s depopulation has meant that it has some of the most scenic area in western Massachusetts, such as the Kenneth Dubuque Memorial State Forest with its thirty-five miles of trails and abundance of historic sites on over 7,000 acres. Parker Hill in the south-central part of Hawley is the second highest point in Massachusetts after Mt. Greylock.