Shutesbury, Massachusetts

The European settlement of Shutesbury began when a road was constructed between Lancaster and Sunderland, Massachusetts, and a tract of land six miles wide and ten miles long was granted to a group of residents of Lancaster. They built a road through Shutesbury, then named Roadtown. Lancaster residents then settled in Roadtown and by 1760 the village had around 300 inhabitants. In 1761 they successfully petitioned for town status. The town grew steadily, and by 1820 more than 1,000 lived there. The town’s remoteness from major lines of transportation, thickly forested and hilly land, and rocky soil prevented the development of agriculture. A thriving logging industry grew in the 1850s and 1860s but the timbering of the forests was unsustainable and had collapsed by the 1890s. The town had some rural industries. In the 1840s Shutesbury had a thriving palm hat manufacturing industry, like many of its neighbors.

“Shutesbury”. View this item in the Online Collection.

Details

PlaceShutesbury, Massachusetts