Worthington Chronology - 1654 to the end of the Civil War
Excerpted from Papers on the History of Worthington, 2007
1654 Northampton settled
1662 Hampshire County established
1692 Province of Massachusetts Settlement Law passed
1736 "Hatfield Grant" created (Feb. 4)
1762 At end of the "French and Indian Wars," Plantation No. 3 purchased from the
Province of Massachusetts for 1,860 pounds (equiv. to $9,000) by Aaron Willard of Springfield. Willard
conveyed 5/6 of his original investment to Josiah Dwight (1/6 share) and John Worthington (1/6 share),
both of Springfield, Timothy Dwight, Jr. (1/6 share) of Northampton and to Selah Barnard (2/6) of Deerfield; these five men
became known as the "proprietors"
1763 Survey of Plantation No. 3 by Nathaniel Dwight. 126 lots laid out; 4 were reserved for the ministry and minister;
2 were allocated to Nahum Eager who was to serve as real estate agent
1764 First grist mill, probably in Stevensville
1765 Petition to Massachusetts Bay Province for incorporation. Petition refused
1768 Worthington incorporated (June 30), named for one of the proprietors;
first town meeting (August 1)
1770 45 pounds raised for roads, positions of Treasurer and Sealer of Weights
and Measures created
1771 First Congregational Church organized; Jonathan Huntington, first minister
1773 First school house built between Radiker and Kinne Brook roads
Original layout of lots based on Nathaniel Dwight's first survey.
Map prepared by Frank Feakes, 2000. Click here for map credits.
1794 Boundary Map
1774 Town meeting discussed "relief and encouragement" of Boston, raised 15 pounds
for stock of ammunition; first church built (Sept. 20)
1775 Worthington militia men marched to Cambridge and Dorchester Heights
1776 Prisoners from Burgoyne's army marched through Worthington on way to Boston, some escaped and remained
1783 Part of Worthington included in the new town of Middlefield
1790 First census
1792 Church meeting house taken down and moved from West Street to site on Harvey Road
1796 Worthington Post Office established, the first between Northampton and Pittsfield; Northampton to Pittsfield
stage road established; Albany Turnpike opened
1799 Portion of Chester annexed to Worthington
1806 Rice, Woodbridge and Buffington houses built
1811 William Cullen Bryant arrived to study law with Judge Howe
1812 Town Meeting voted to oppose war with England; Overseer of the Poor position established
1825 General Lafayette spent night at Pierce Tavern at the Corners (June 13); maple trees planted; new
Meeting House (steepled) erected on site of present First Congregational Church
1828 Methodist Society established in South Worthington (Sept. 30)
1830 E. and T. Ring factory established in Ringville
1833 Worthington divided into eleven school districts
1837 Mountain Seminary established at the Corners
1839 West Worthington Post Office established
1843 E. and T. Ring laid road to Huntington
1845 Corners Store built
1847 South Worthington Methodist Chapel built
1849 West Worthingotn Methodist Society formed; Mountain Seminary closed
1851 Ringville Post Office established
1852 Green Mountain Agricultural Society established
1853 James Clay Rice published dissertation Secular and Ecclesiastical History of the Town of Worthington
1855 Town Hall built
1858 Hayden and Sons' sled factory established in Ringville
1860 Lyceum Hall built; Corners Store rebuilt after fire the previous year
1864 General James Clay Rice killed at Spotsylvania, Virginia (May 10)
1865 Business affairs of Town and Congregational Church separated
