Hadley, a town that was once saved by an angel ultimately got swept away by a corn farmer. John Russell, who in 1659, teamed with dissenting members of a Connecticut congregation to settle what would eventually become Hadley. Russell's Congregational Church also played a pivotal role in Hadley's history when in 1675, William Gaffe, an English refugee hiding from King Charles II, entered the church's sanctuary on horseback to warn folks of an impending Indian attack. The seemingly prophetic Gaffe was later dubbed the Angel of Hadley, a moniker that may be partially attributed to the white hair and white beard he sported when making his impromptu visit to Russell's congregation.

Commerce in Hadley began in earnest when Corn farmer Levi Dickinson came to Hadley in 1786 with the seeds of a strange new corn whose tassels he managed to convert into the best brooms anyone in this neck of the woods had ever seen. Just before the turn of the century, he launched a most lucrative broom business and paved the way for broom corn becoming Hadley's number-one crop for nearly 80 years. Broom corn was finally supplanted, so to speak, by the rise in popularity of tobacco. The demand for the unusual corn began to tail off in the 1880's, and by 1920, Hadley's last broom shop had closed.

Today, Hadley is better known for its mile-long, history-filled town common, which is home to 69 historic homes, including one that dates back to 1713. Scholars claim the town common to be the longest in all of New England. The common is divided by Russell Street, honoring the town's first religious leader.