Mount Hermon, Massachusetts

Gill, Massachusetts
Town
The Connecticut River looking north in the early evening, from the French King Bridge at the Erving-Gill town line
Seal
Location in Franklin County in Massachusetts
Coordinates: 42°38′25″N 72°30′00″W / 42.64028°N 72.50000°W / 42.64028; -72.50000Coordinates: 42°38′25″N 72°30′00″W / 42.64028°N 72.50000°W / 42.64028; -72.50000
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Franklin
Settled	1776
Incorporated	1793
Government
• Type	Open town meeting
Area
• Total	14.8 sq mi (38.3 km2)
• Land	13.7 sq mi (35.6 km2)
• Water	1.0 sq mi (2.7 km2)
Elevation	280 ft (85 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	1,500
• Density	100/sq mi (39/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01354
Area code(s)	413
FIPS code	25-25730
GNIS feature ID	0618164
Website	www.gillmass.org

Gill is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,500 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School is located in the Mount Hermon section of the town.

Prior to the arrival of English colonists, the Massachusetts portion of the Connecticut River valley was occupied by the Nipmuc, an Algonquin-speaking tribe. A site on the river near the great falls shows evidence of human habitation dating back 10,000 years or more. In the 1670s the Nipmuc had a village called Peskeompscut in that area. During King Philip's War in 1676, Captain William Turner led 150 colonists in an attack on this settlement, in which several hundred Indians (mostly women, children, and elderly) were slain. The falls came to be known as Turners Falls after Turner, who was slain in the battle. (The falls thereafter gave that name to the village of Turners Falls in neighboring Montague.)

Gill was first settled in 1776 and was officially incorporated in 1793. The town is named in honor of Moses Gill, a member of Massachusetts' Executive Council who became lieutenant governor in 1794 and acting governor in 1799 when Governor Increase Sumner died.