The Town of Buckland is a small, rural, predominately agricultural community with a population of approximately 2,000 people. The main employer in Buckland is the Mohawk Trail Regional School. Buckland shares a downtown business district, known as Shelburne Falls, with the Town of Shelburne. The Route 112 corridor bisects the town and is a scenic highway consisting of a number of small farms and open space. Originally part of the towns of Charlemont and Ashfield, Buckland’s first settlers arrived in 1742. By 1779, the residents of what is now Buckland found it inconvenient and sometimes dangerous to cross the Deerfield River to attend church, school and town functions in Charlemont and surrounding towns, so they petitioned the General Court for incorporation. The Town of Buckland was incorporated April 14, 1779.