The town of South Hadley began to be settled by Europeans in the late 1600s. The town was officially formed in 1753. The earliest industry in the area was farming, but the waters ways were harnessed for use as early as 1684. Milling for grist eventually gave way to other forms of mill work and by the mid 19th century South Hadley was a thriving industrial center. Mary Lyon and the Mount Holyoke Board of Trustees settled on South Hadley as the place to found the Seminary and land purchased 1835.