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This county is bounded south by
Hampden, west by
Berkshire, north by
Franklin, and east by Worcester Counties.
It is located in the centre of the alluvial basin of the
Connecticut River; it has a rich soil and considerable water power, much of which is used for manufacturing purposes; it is also well provided with railroad accommodations.
The county is divided into twenty-three towns, the largest and most important of which is
Northampton, the county seat.
The value of its agricultural and manufacturing products in 1865 was $13,143,957. The population in 1860 was 37,822; in 1865 it was 39,199, an increase in five years of 1377; the population in 1870 was 44,388, which is a gain of 5,189.
The valuation of the county in 1860 was $17,737,649; in 1865 it was $20,510,994, an increase in five years of $2,773,345.
The number of men furnished by the several towns in the county, according to the returns made by the selectmen in 1866, was three thousand seven hundred and ninety-three (3,793), which is very near the exact number.
Each town furnished its full contingent upon every call made by the
President for men, and at the end of the war had a surplus over and above all demands, which in the aggregate amounted to three hundred and forty-four men (344). The total amount of money appropriated and expended by the several towns on account of the war, exclusive of State aid, was four hundred and fifteen thousand and forty-two dollars and seventy-six cents ($415,042.76). The total amount raised and expended during the war for State aid to soldiers' families, and which was afterwards repaid by
