Unlike Hatfield Center, which dated to colonial days and lies south of the district, this part of Hatfield developed roughly between 1860 and 1939 as a village centered on the nearby ferry landing on the Connecticut River.

[2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

[1] The town center of Hatfield was laid out in 1661, with narrow house lots facing the main road, and large agricultural areas surrounding the village.

In addition to the residential buildings lining its roads, the district also includes agricultural buildings related to the area's historic patterns of agriculture.

Prominent among these are several tobacco barns, reflecting the importance of that crop in the town's 19th century economic prosperity.