History of Heath, Massachusetts, USA

Heath, Massachusetts
Franklin county. A mountainous township good for grazing sheep, of which 2,312 were kept in 1837. There are in Heath some manufactures of leather, boots, shoes and palm-leaf hats. Incorporated, 1785. Population, 1837, 953. It lies 125 miles W.N.W. from Boston and 13 W.N.W. from Greenfield.

The southern part of Heath was taken from Charlemont.

This town was named in honor of William Heath, a Major-General in the Revolutionary army, who belonged to Roxbury, and wrote memoirs of himself.

This is an agricultural town, the only manufacture of any importance being palm-leaf hats.

Distance from Greenfield, 13 miles; from Boston, 125.

This town was incorporated in 1785. Rev. Joseph Strong, the first minister, was settled here in 1790. The church originated from that in Charlemont, at the close of the Revolutionary war, whenMr. Leavitt was the minister of the latter. It was a period of some difficulty, owing, in part, to the state of the times.” The number of original members was thirty-five. Rev. Moses Miller succeeded Mr. Strong in the ministry, in 1804. It is stated in the American Quarterly Register, Feb. 1838, as follows, viz. : “The church now consists of about 200. It hns been diminished 100, by emigration. About 60 families attend Mr. Miller’s meeting; of which 15 do not belong to the parish. About 350 persons attend meeting statedly; 30 families attend the Baptist meeting; 10 the Methodist; and 20 are Unitarians. At one time one third of the persons in town were professors of religion.”

This is principally an agricultural town. The principal articles manufactured in the town are palm-leaf hats; of these, ...

Heath, a post-township of Franklin county, Massachusetts, 100 miles W. N. W. from Boston. Population, 803.

Heath, situated among the hills in the northwest section of Franklin County, 119 miles from Boston, has for its bounds, New Hampshire on the north, Colrain on the east, Charlemont on the south, and the latter and Rowe on the west. Its assessed area is, 14,942, — which includes 3,478 acres of forests containing nearly all the New England varieties of trees. The actual area is probably 3,000 acres greater than these figures.

The land is broken and sparsely settled. The geological formation is the Quebec group and calciferous mica-schist. Pyrites and zoisite occur. There are several pretty ponds of small size. The streams are tributaries of the Deerfield River, and furnish motive power for several saw and grist and cider mills. Maple sugar, cider and vinegar are extensively produced, and lumber, bark and firewood are marketed in considerable quantities. Some articles of furniture and agricultural implements are made. The aggregate farm product in 1885 was valued at $110,279; and the...

Heath, a post-village and township of Franklin co., Mass., about 15 miles E. of North Adams. It has 2 churches, saw-mills, a grist-mill, &c. Pop. 503.