The Town of Mansfield is centrally located in Cattaraugus County, north of Salamanca.  The area was first settled around 1817.  The Town of Mansfield was formed in 1830 from part of the Town of Little Valley.

The surface is hilly, the highest elevation being in the SE, about 2300 feet above the New York and Erie Railroad.  The south branch of Cattaraugus Creek flows west through the north part, and several small streams fow south into the Allegany River.