BerkshireLinks

Dave Read

Sandisfield, Mass.

Savoy Town Hall
By ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The small school system in Sandisfield has merged with Otis to form the Farmington River Regional School District, which provides a skiing program during the winter for the students sponsored by the P.T.O. The Sandisfield library and community center along with the town hall and new firehouse, comprise important community resources. The town is the largest by land area in Berkshire County, and eighth largest in the state.

Sandisfield, MA facts:

  • Town Hall: PO Box 90
  • Phone: (413) 258-4711
  • Population: 824
  • Settled/Inc’d: 1750
  • Named for: do you know?
  • Elevation: 880′

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Savoy, Mass.

Savoy Town Hall
By ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

The Berkshires town of Savoy is a mountaintop community that includes the beautiful Tannery Falls, mineral springs, and the Savoy Mountain State Forest. The local section of the Westield River offers excellent fly-fishing. Berkshires lore has it that Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith lived and proselytized in Savoy for a time around 1810, before moving westward.

Savoy, MA facts:

  • Town Hall: 720 Main Rd.
  • Phone: (413) 743-4290
  • Population: 705
  • Settled/Inc’d: 1777
  • Named for: Savoy, France?
  • Elevation: 1,880′

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Sheffield, Mass.

Bartholomew's Cobble, Sheffield, Massachusetts, view of a ledge with ferns; photo: wiki user Daderot.
Bartholomew’s Cobble, Sheffield, Massachusetts, view of a ledge with ferns; photo: wiki user Daderot.

The Berkshires town of Sheffield, the oldest community in Berkshire county, contains the Schenob Brook wetland complex (identified as one of the most unique unspoiled ecosystems in the world). Noted for its deep agricultural soils, much of Sheffield remains open and in agricultural production. Originally called Outhotonnook, meaning “over the mountain,” the land was purchased on April 25, 1724 from Chief Konkapot and 20 other Stockbridge Mahican Indians. Its price was 460 pounds, 3 barrels of cider and 30 quarts of rum. (Photo credit:Wikipedia User:Daderot)

Sheffield, MA facts:

  • Town Hall: PO Box 325
  • Phone: (413) 229-2335
  • Population: 3,335
  • Settled/Inc’d: 1733
  • Named for: Edmund Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham
  • Elevation: 710′

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Stockbridge, MA

Indiantown, Stockbridge, MA
Mohican Nation flag

The town of Stockbridge in the Berkshires is a popular destination for Berkshire county visitors because it is the location of Berkshire Theatre Festival, Tanglewood, Chesterwood, Berkshire Botanical Gardens, Naumkeag, Mission House, all important cultural venues, and The Red Lion Inn, which, in one form or another, has been a place of public accommodation since the 18th century.

In 1734 a mission was established in the midst of the Mohican tribe by Rev. John Sergeant, (son-in-law of Ephraim Williams) who was soon succeeded by Jonathan Edwards; chartered as Indian Town in 1737, it was incorporated as Stockbridge by the Massachusetts General Court, which declared that the Mahican’s land never could be sold.

That promise didn’t last long, however, and one Mahican was forced to sell a 4,000 acre parcel to a group of seven men, including 5 ministers; the “Minister’s Grant” is known today as the towns of Lenox and Richmond.

Stockbridge, MA facts:

  • Town Hall: 6 Main St.
  • Phone: 413-298-4714
  • Police Dept.: 413-298-4179
  • 2008 population: 2,208
  • Town website: TownofStockbridge.com

Stockbridge, MA cultural attractions:

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Tyringham, Mass.

Tyringham road

The Berkshires town of Tyringham is a rural, residential community long known for its wealthy and famous summer residents and visitors. President Grover Cleveland fished Hop Brook, reputed to be one of America’s finest trout streams, while visiting friends at a summer home in Tyringham; Mark Twain spent time there after the death of his daughter. Upper Goose Pond and Tyringham Cobble are popular with hikers and Santerella (the “Gingerbread House”), was the studio of Sir Henry Hudson Kitson, sculptor of the Lexington Minuteman.

Tyringham, MA facts:

  • Town Hall: 116 Main Rd
  • Phone: (413) 243-1749
  • Population: 350
  • Settled/Inc’d: 1735
  • Named for: Tyringham, England
  • Elevation: 900′

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Washington, Mass.

The Berkshires town of Washington boasts five small lakes, a number streams and many clear springs. It has a great deal of good grazing land and has remained, down through the years, a small rural community. Washington also is home to two of the most famous denizens of Berkshire county, Arlo Guthrie and James Taylor (neighboring Lenoxians claim JT as one of their own, though). Guthrie has lived in Washington since the 1970s, having bought property there with proceeds from Alice’s Restaurant, while Taylor built a house and studio there in the 2000s.

Washington, MA facts:

  • Town Hall: 8 Summit Hill Rd.
  • Phone: (413) 623-8878
  • Population: 541
  • Settled/Inc’d: 1760
  • Named for: George Washington
  • Elevation: 1,437′

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