Dalton is a New England town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Dalton is considered by some to be a suburb of the nearby city of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Dalton is also the transition town between the urban and rural pieces of Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,892 at the 2000 census.

History
Dalton was first settled in 1755 and was officially incorporated in 1784. The town was named after Tristram Dalton, the Speaker (politics) of the Massachusetts House of Representatives at the time of the town's incorporation....

Dalton is a New England town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Dalton is considered by some to be a suburb of the nearby city of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Dalton is also the transition town between the urban and rural pieces of Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,892 at the 2000 census.

History
Dalton was first settled in 1755 and was officially incorporated in 1784. The town was named after Tristram Dalton, the Speaker (politics) of the Massachusetts House of Representatives at the time of the town's incorporation. Dalton was settled as a rural/industrial community, with mills set up along the East Branch of the Housatonic River, and small but good patches of farmland in areas away from it. In 1801, Zenas Crane, Henry Wiswall and John Willard set up a paper mill along the river which, by 1844, had begun producing bank note paper, which was purchased by banks all the way to Boston. The company, Crane Paper Company, still is the largest employer in town, making paper products, stationery, and, since 1873, has been the only supplier for the Federal Reserve Note, the United States paper money. The town now has a mix of small town and suburban qualities, having been served by trolleys to Pittsfield for many years.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.9 square miles (56.6 km²), of which, 21.8 square miles (56.5 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.18%) is water. Dalton is bordered by Cheshire, Massachusetts to the northwest and north, Windsor, Massachusetts to the northeast, Hinsdale, Massachusetts to the east, Washington, Massachusetts to the south, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Lanesborough, Massachusetts to the west. The town center is 5 miles northeast from downtown Pittsfield, 45 miles northwest from Springfield, Massachusetts, and 140 miles west of Boston, Massachusetts.

Dalton's center of population, due to its milling history, is around the valley of the East Branch of the Housatonic River. Several brooks run off of the river, including the Wahconah Falls Brook, whose eponymous waterfalls are a small state park. Much of the rest of town is dominated by the Berkshire Mountains, with the north being on a plain between the peaks of North and Western Mountains, covered by the Dalton Wildlife Management Area. The south is dominated by Tully Mountain, whose peak is just over the Hinsdale line. The Appalachian Trail winds through town, passing between Tully and North Mountains through the downtown area.

Dalton lies at the junction of New England Interstate Route 8, Massachusetts Route 8A and Massachusetts Route 9, with the latter two running concurrently. Route 9 is the major central east-west route through the state, and ends in neighboring Pittsfield. Dalton's nearest interstate is Interstate 90, also known as the Massachusetts Turnpike, whose nearest exit is 15 miles south of town. The town, formerly served by trolley service from Pittsfield, is still on a route of the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority s] bus service. The rail line is still active in town, used by CSX Transportation. The nearest regional air service can be found at Pittsfield Municipal Airport, and the nearest national air service can be found at Albany International Airport.