Hampden , a S. W. county of Massachusetts, bordering on Connecticut, intersected by the Connecticut and drained by Westfield and Chic-opee rivers; area, 670 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 78,-409. It has a rough, hilly surface, and a fertile soil, the river valleys being particularly rich. Small steamboats navigate the Connecticut to Springfield, and the county is traversed by the New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, the Connecticut River, the New London Northern and the Ware branch, the Athol and Enfield, the New Haven and Northampton and the Holyoke branch, and the Boston and Albany railroads, and by the Hampshire and Hampden canal. The chief productions in 1870 were 2,045 bushels of wheat, 63,518 of rye, 145,728 of Indian corn, 74,617 of oats, 11,484 of buckwheat, 267,762 of potatoes, 1,095,423 lbs. of tobacco, 35,103 of maple sugar, 18,737 of wool, 716,979 of butter, 242,046 of cheese, and 51,859 tons of hay. There were 3,585 horses, 10,200 milch cows, 2,718 working oxen, 9,023 other cattle, 6,751 sheep, and 4,210 swine.

The county contained 687 manufacturing establishments, chiefly in Springfield, the county seat, and in Chicopee and Holyoke, having an aggregate capital of $16,942,490, and an annual product of $30,008,006.