Chesterfield is a rural recreational hill New England town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, 28 miles southeast of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and 108 miles west of Boston. The population was 1,201 at the United States Census, 2000. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan area.

History
Chesterfield was first settled in 1760 and was officially incorporated in 1762. The town center, established after the Revolution, has well-preserved Federal Period houses along Main Road. In its early days, the town supported a largely agricultural economy, with wool from Merino sheep...

Chesterfield is a rural recreational hill New England town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, 28 miles southeast of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and 108 miles west of Boston. The population was 1,201 at the United States Census, 2000. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan area.

History
Chesterfield was first settled in 1760 and was officially incorporated in 1762. The town center, established after the Revolution, has well-preserved Federal Period houses along Main Road. In its early days, the town supported a largely agricultural economy, with wool from Merino sheep as a major product. However, there were sawmills and tanneries in operation as well as cloth dressing mills, and in the early 19th century these superseded farming and brought in a small immigrant population that was mostly Irish. Progress wiped out most of the industry in Chesterfield and by the turn of the century a re-emerging agricultural economy developed alongside the growing trade from summer residents. Famous residents include novelist Sam Crompton and modern art sculptor James Kitchen.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 31.3 square miles (81.0 km²), of which, 31.1 square miles (80.5 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (0.61%) is water.

Points of Interest
*Chesterfield Gorge A property of the Trustees of Reservations

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,201 people, 447 households, and 324 families residing in the town. The population density was 38.6 people per square mile (14.9/km²). There were 524 housing units at an average density of 16.8/sq mi (6.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.67% White (U.S. Census), 0.25% Asian (U.S. Census), 0.25% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), 0.08% from Race (United States Census), and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic (U.S. Census) or Latino (U.S. Census) of any race were 0.08% of the population.