Before being incorporated as a town in 1768, Shelburne was called Deerfield North-West. The territory was given to landowners of Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1712 based on the property they owned in town. There are two villages in Shelburne – Shelburne Center and Shelburne Falls. The first people of European descent to settle in Shelburne Center were Shakers, in 1782. Shelburne Falls is on the town’s west border at the Deerfield River (the village actually straddles the river, and the part on the other side of the river is in the town of Buckland). Shelburne Falls was originally called Salmon Falls because of the salmon and shad that swam up the Deerfield River to this point. Native Americans and Colonial settlers both heavily fished the falls. Shelburne’s location on the Deerfield River made it a good place to locate water-powered mills. In 1834 Silas Lamson (1776-1855) invented a new scythe snath (handle), and he began manufacturing them in Shelburne. This company became the Lamson & Goodnow Manufacturing Company (located on the Buckland side of Shelburne Falls), still in operation as a maker of fine cutlery as of 2010. In the late 1800s Shelburne also had a tannery as well as manufacturers of bits and braces, harmonicas, chairs, silk twist, and printed cotton cloth. As with neighboring Buckland, the Shelburne Falls section of town came to be its most densely populated area.