No incorporated areas were formed within the township, but Akron and Cuyahoga Falls expanded into Northampton via annexation.

When created, it occupied survey Town 3, Range 11 in the Western Reserve and covered an area of about 25 square miles (65 km2).

Its first settler, Simeon Prior, named the township for the Hampshire County, Massachusetts village of Northampton.

Northampton provided a rendezvous point for militia during the war and the two[1] or three[2] vessels of Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet were built in the township and floated down the Cuyahoga River to Lake Erie.

The township became Ward 8 in Cuyahoga Falls and kept special zoning to preserve some of its rural nature.