CHESTERFIELD is a delightful little post village located in the central part of the town. It has two churches (Congregational and Methodist Episcopal), one store, one hotel, two blacksmith shops, town-hall, and about thirty dwellings. Here also was located the celebrated Chesterfield Academy. This institution was incorporated under the laws of the state, by an act passed in 1790. The school was soon after opened and was one of the most flourishing institutions of the kind in the county for a period of over a half century. An academy building was erected in 1794, on the southeastern part of the common. It was a two-story structure and did service until April 9, 1859, when it was destroyed by fire. During the same year a new building was erected, by school district No. 5 and the trustees of the academy, and is that now occupied by the graded school.
