Brimfield Timeline - Early Industrial Period (1830

Early Industrial Period (1830 - 1870)

Town History and Development

Brimfield, which had been an agricultural community from its founding in the early 18th century, entered and emerged from the Early Industrial Period still an agricultural town, albeit an improved one. This was a period during which progressive-minded farmers upgraded their practices, experimented with new crops, and extended their markets. Not without important industry during the period, the town was virtually bypassed by the railroad in the 1840s, an event which, together with a lack of a large-scale water source, imposed severe limits on its future industrial development. Culturally, this was a town which prized education for both its adult and young people; emphasized high standards for public art and architecture, and sustained its civic consciousness. It remained a travel destination with the Brimfield Hotel as the prime stopping place, but the Bliss Tavern also was operating.

The population of Brimfield actually declined during this period. It began in 1830 at 1,599 people and ended in 1870 with 1,288. In many towns this was the era in which immigration began to have an effect on demographics, increasing population and adding diversity. Much of the change was fueled by railroad construction which brought Italian and Irish immigrants to the Connecticut River Valley, but immigration did not have a large impact on Brimfield, since the railroad only touched the town on its western periphery. to illustrate, whereas in towns like Hatfield 13.4% of its population in 1870 were immigrants, in Brimfield, the percentage was 6.5%. The brickworks brought a few Irish laborers to work and live in the Powers Corner boarding houses; but they were not permanent settlers, as this was seasonal work. Others worked as laborers on local farms and stayed on in small numbers. Part of the overall loss in population is explained by migration to the west which began in the 1830s and induced a number of Brimfield's young move to Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. The first pioneer was Deacon Samuel Brown (130 Tower Hill Road, MHC #84) who moved with his family to Hillsboro, Michigan in the early 1830s. William Warriner Thompson whose family owned the farm at 35 Haynes Hill Road (MHC #125) (in an earlier house), moved to Charleston, Illinois in 1839; Col. Dauphin Brown, the last of Jonathon Brown's descendants to live at 50 Tower Hill Road (MHC #80), moved with his family to Illinois in 1837.

Despite the population decline, there were several new roads added and several more extended. Warren Road which previously went across Tower Hill was extended north to Warren on the west side of the hill at its base and on its old path it was named Hubbard Hill Road. On the east side of town, Marsh Hill Road was built; Five Bridges Road was built after 1830 and was extended by 1870 to meet Holland Road. Holland Road was itself laid out by 1855. On the west side of town there were fewer changes. A road which ran west off Hollow Road appeared in 1855 and disappeared by 1870. A second road which ran south from Dunhamtown-Brimfield Road near its intersection with Lyman Barnes Road disappeared after 1855, too.

The Brimfield Center had a major loss which was quickly replaced when the meeting house designed by Elias Carter in 1805 burned down in 1847 and was rebuilt in 1848 (MHC #1). At least ten new houses were constructed in the town center, in addition to a new school, and store. Henry F. Brown bought the Brimfield Hotel in 1848 and converted it into Temperance House, as its name suggests an alcohol- free hotel. The hotel burned down in 1859 and was rebuilt in the same year by Silas Herring (7 Brookfield Road - MHC #20) who moved here from New York. The new version of the hotel was an extravagant Italianate style building (now gone). Elsewhere in town a church went up in West Brimfield at Powers Corner in 1857 after a Moravian minister was sent there by a missionary society and established a membership. The church is now gone.