Peter Jethro, a Praying Indian, a son of Tantamous, a Nipmuc originally from Concord who was reputed to be a pauwau, spent a brief stint in the Northfield area as a Christian minister before a massacre plunged him into King Philip's War.

[6][7] As a result of the conflict, New England settlers were occasionally taken north to Quebec, held as hostages by the French, causing the town to revert to American Indian control a few times.

[9] During Dummer's War, on August 13, 1723, Gray Lock raided Northfield, and four warriors killed two citizens near the town.

The school was the site of Moody's religious conferences, which attracted thousands of visitors to Northfield each summer.

The influx of visitors led to the development of the town as a summer resort, especially after the opening of the Northfield Hotel in 1887.

The school failed to notify guests of the closing of the Hotel and people were still arriving while the building was being demolished.

To provide for safer and more convenient access across the river, Francis Schell gave $45,000 for the construction of a new steel bridge.

The Schell Bridge is a Pennsylvania truss structure of impressive design, which crosses the river in one span of 515 feet (157 m).

Renovation began on the disused buildings in summer 2010, and the college expected to open for instruction in fall 2012, pending accreditation, but failed to meet the necessary funding threshold.

In December 2013, Hobby Lobby donated the auditorium, used for Moody's religious conventions, and the school's original Romanesque Revival buildings and grounds to the National Christian Foundation, which is responsible for identifying a viable owner for the property.

In June 2016, The Trust for Public Land and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation ensured the complete and permanent protection of 1,300 acres of forest land which was previously the Northfield campus and owned by the Northfield Mount Hermon School for over a century.

Although now a permanent part of the Northfield State Forest, it had been the largest parcel of unprotected land in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The property includes woodlands, trails and a reservoir which will be managed by the DCR to ensure public access for recreation as well as serve as important habitat for wildlife.

The town is also home to a cross-country skiing area at Northfield Mountain, which is also traversed by the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail.

Northfield is located at the junction of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont state borders along the Connecticut River.

The Amtrak Vermonter line passes through the town daily, offering train service between many of the cities along the Eastern Seaboard.

The town is governed by a five-member select board, charged with the creation and enforcement of policy and general decision-making, among other responsibilities.