Ashfield,_massachusetts

Ashfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,800 at the 2000 census.

History

Ashfield was first settled in 1743 and was officially incorporated in 1765. The first permanent settlement was in 1745, by Richard Ellis.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.4 square miles (104.7 km²), of which, 40.3 square miles (104.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.30%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 1,800 people, 741 households, and 500 families residing in the town. The population density was 44.7 people per square mile (17.2/km²). There were 821 housing units at an average density of 20.4/sq mi (7.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.33% White, 0.61% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 1.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population.

There were 741 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 33.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $52,875, and the median income for a family was $56,739. Males had a median income of $38,818 versus $31,146 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,483. About 5.2% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

• Alvan Clark (1804-1887), astronomer, telescope maker (1963) Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who\'s Who. 
• William S. Clark (1826-1886), member of the Massachusetts Senate, president of Massachusetts Agricultural College (now University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959), filmmaker of the early 20th century; born while his parents were vacationing here

References

External links

• The Ashfield News - Local newspaper

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia