Hinsdale is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,032 at the 2010 census.

History

Originally part of Northern Berkshire Township Number 2 and including all of Peru and parts of Middlefield and Dalton, the town was first settled in 1763 and officially incorporated as “Partridgefield” in 1771. Named for Oliver Partridge, one of the three purchasers of the town (along with Governor Francis Bernard), the Western Parish officially broke away from its eastern half and incorporated in 1804, renaming itself for the family of Rev. Theodore Hinsdale, who also owned an important woolen mill. The mill was the center of economic activity in town until the Great Depression, when it closed.

Hinsdale, along with neighboring Dalton, is home to two historic long-distance routes: the Appalachian Trail (a National Scenic Trail) and the Boston and Albany Railroad, on which operates the Lake Shore Limited passenger rail service that has run continuously from Boston to Chicago since 1897. The Hinsdale train depot located in the town center was closed in 1954, and the actual intersection of the two corridors lies at the also decommissioned train depot just north in Dalton.

Education

Hinsdale is one of the seven towns in the Central Berkshire Regional School District, the largest district (by land area) in the Commonwealth. Students in Hinsdale attend the Kittredge Elementary School in the town for elementary school, along with students from Peru. All students in the district travel to Dalton to attend Nessacus Regional Middle School for sixth through eighth grades and Wahconah Regional High School for the high grades. There are no private schools in Hinsdale, with the nearest being in the Pittsfield area.

The nearest community college is Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield. The nearest state college is Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, and the nearest state university is the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,872 people, 739 households, and 509 families residing in the town. By population, the town ranks 13th of the 32 cities and towns in Berkshire County, and 292nd of 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. The population density was 89.8 people per square mile (34.7/km²), which ranks 13th and 290th in the county and Commonwealth, respectively. There were 970 housing units at an average density of 46.6 per square mile (18.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.81% White, 0.53% African American, 0.27% Asian, and 1.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.32% of the population.

There were 739 households, out of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. Of all households 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.6% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $42,500, and the median income for a family was $51,118. Males had a median income of $38,333 versus $24,420 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,797. About 6.4% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

City-stats.org data for Town of Hinsdale, Massachusetts reports 66.5% of the population are registered Democrats, 30.57% Republicans, and 2.9% independents.