Northfield, MA

At the 2020 census, Northfield was a Franklin County town of 2,866 people divided by the Connecticut River into West Northfield, East Northfield, and the village around Town Hall. It is the only Massachusetts town on both sides of the river. People were farming the fertile flats by 1673, but the settlement was abandoned twice before it finally held in 1714; Northfield incorporated in 1723. The river is not a scenic detail here—it is the town's boundary, crossing problem, school story, and reason the villages feel like separate rooms in one house.

Northfield's second life came through education. Dwight L. Moody founded Northfield Seminary for girls in 1879 and Mount Hermon School for boys across the river in 1881; the institutions eventually became Northfield Mount Hermon, now based in neighboring Gill. FirstLight's pumped-storage hydroelectric facility adds a modern engineering layer, while river boat tours and Northfield Mountain cross-country skiing keep the water and uplands in circulation. Northfield is a town with two banks, two school histories, and one river constantly making everyone cross it.