The Southern Berkshire Region

The Southern Berkshire region was first inhabited by the Mahican Indians, who were part of the Algonquin Nation. They settled along the Housatonic River in a spot they called Mahaiwe, meaning the "Place Down Stream".

HISTORY

The earliest recorded arrival of Europeans occurred in present-day Great Barrington, when Major John Talcott attacked the Mahicans during King Philip's War (1675-76). A stone monument is erected on the Bridge Street entrance to the Riverwalk that commemorates the spot of the attack.

There is a strong legacy of freedom and independance in the Southern Berkshire region.  In January, 1773 the Sheffield Declaration, predecessor to the Declaration of Independence, drafted under the direction of Colonel John Ashley stated: "Resolved that Mankind in a State of Nature are equal, free and independent of each other, and have a right to the undisturbed Enjoyment of their lives, their Liberty and Property."

Ironically, in 1781, Mum Bett, a slave having heard talk about the "rights of mankind", sued her owners Colonel John Ashley and his wife Hannah for her freedom. She became the first slave freed under due process of law in America. Her trial helped set the legal precedents that ended slavery in New England. She then changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman and was the great grandmother of W.E.B. DuBois, co-founder of the NAACP. DuBois (1868-1963), the legendary African-American scholar and civil rights activist, was born and raised in Great Barrington. A walking tour around the town will bring you to the church he attended, his family farm and the gravestone of his wife and young son. The site of his boyhood home is now a National Historic Landmark. The DuBois Center of American History at 684 South Main Street is dedicated to W.E.B. DuBois' vision of an inclusive America, providing educational programs and resources to foster a better understanding of our shared heritage and the world we live in.

The first open and armed resistance to British rule in America that was sanctioned and deliberate occurred August 16, 1774. More than a thousand armed residents of our area gathered at the courthouse (now the Town Hall building site) and refused to let the British tribunal sit in session. They were armed with pitchforks and muskets and anything else that they could use as weapons and they forbade the British tribunal entry. The High Sheriff of Berkshire County, Elijah Williams, shouted a plea to let the judges in. It fell on deaf ears and the mob refused and demanded that the judges leave town. The judges felt that it was the safest thing to do under the circumstances and they were escorted out of Great Barrington by part of that mob. There is a monument in front of the town hall commemorating this event. It was the first historical marker in Great Barrington. The inscription on the blue dolomite stone from the Searles-Hopkins quarry simply but eloquently reads: "Near this spot stood the first court house of Berkshire County, erected in 1764. Here, August 16, 1774, occurred the first open resistance to British rule in America."

Daniel Shays, a Captain during the Revolutionary War, led a rebellion by farmers against politicians and unfair laws affecting farmers and workers. The last battle of Shays' Rebellion took place in Sheffield in 1787, when Colonel John Ashley quelled the insurgence of New England farmers.

The beauty and serenity of the area inspired writers and painters to move to the region. Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Oliver Wendell Holmes hiked up Monument Mountain together in 1850 and that famous hike is re-enacted each year in August. Numerous well-known writers lived here, including poet William Cullen Bryant, who served as town clerk of Great Barrington.

During the Gilded Age of the 1880s, wealthy summer visitors to the Southern Berkshires built elaborate "cottages" that turned this remote farmland into a thriving summer resort, sometimes referred to as the "Inland Newport".

Searles Castle, a turreted stone mansion on Main Street in Great Barrington, was designed by Stanford White and built between 1882 and 1886 by Mrs. Mary Hopkins, widow of Union Pacific Railroad tycoon Mark Hopkins. Mrs. Hopkins later married designer Edward F. Searles, who helped complete the mansion, which includes a reflecting pool, fountain, carriage house and Greek Revival temple on 90 acres along the Housatonic River. The property is now the home of a private, year round school, the John Dewey Academy.

William Stanley, Jr. lived in the area for a while and was an inventor extraordinaire. In 1886 he demonstrated the first alternating current electrical system, providing lighting for offices and stores along Main Street in Great Barrington. It became the first town in the world to be illuminated by an electric system. Stanley later went on to invent many other things including the insulated thermos bottle.

All the rich history of the Southern Berkshire region contributes to the highly desirable area it has become today for both residents and visitors alike.

EDUCATION

Choose public or private schools for your child’s ideal educational experience:

Southern Berkshire Regional School District (SBRSD) serves the towns of Alford, North and South Egremont, Monterey, New Marlborough and Sheffield. These five towns came together in 1953 to form a unified school system. The district has three elementary schools and one middle/high school for grades seven through twelve.

Berkshire Hills Regional School District (BHRSD) serves the towns of Great Barrington, Housatonic, Stockbridge and West Stockbridge. Formed in 1967, the district is composed of one elementary school, one middle school and one high school. The district received a design and construction grant for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to build a “green” middle school, using a 56kW solar array, ground source heat pumps, heat recovery and attention to indoor air quality. The elementary and middle schools opened in September of 2005.

Berkshire Community College, based in Pittsfield, has its South County Campus in downtown Great Barrington.
The 500 acre campus of Berkshire School, a college preparatory boarding and day school founded in 1907, is nestled at the base of Mt.Everett in Sheffield.

Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School offers a Waldorf education in the Berkshires for pre-K through 9th grade, featuring academinc excellence enhanced by a unique, creative curriculum.

Simon’s Rock College of Bard in Great Barrington is the nation’s only four-year liberal arts and science college expressly designed for high school aged students.

Special needs teens and adults will find several options in the southern Berkshire region.

Gould Farm in Monterey is America’s oldest therapeutic community for people with psychiatric disabilities.

Kolburne School in New Marlborough is a private residential school and treatment center providing academic, vocational, clinical, medical and recreational therapeutic services to students with mental and behavioral disabilities.

Oakdale Foundation in Great Barrington is a human services organization offering supportive community living for special needs adults, developing skills necessary for work, recreation, responsibility and independence.

HEALTH and WELLBEING

The closeness to nature prevalent throughout the Southern Berkshire region has a certain healing or restorative energy. As a result, practitioners of both traditional and non-traditional healing methods have been attracted to the area, to the benefit of residents and visitors alike.

Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington is a community hospital, which has a federal designation as a Critical Access Hospital, one of only three in Massachusetts. The 25-bed facility provides 24-hour emergency care by a skilled medical team equipped with state-of-the-art technology. Medical services include cardiology, diagnostic laboratory and imaging (including CT-scan, mammography and ultrasound), surgical services, physical therapy, sports medicine, occupational therapy, pain management and The Family Birthplace.

As an affiliate of Berkshire Health Systems, the hospital can easily facilitate transfer to Berkshire Medical Center in nearby Pittsfield when necessary. There are support programs and educational lectures available. The Advocacy for Access office provides access to care for the underinsured and uninsured.

 

SPONSOR

UPCOMING EVENTS