USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people > Part 54
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The State Teachers' College, on Court St., established in 1844, is the second oldest institution of its kind in the State. The imposing three- story building of red brick stands on a three-acre campus.
At 10.2 m. is the junction with Smith Ave.
Left on Smith Ave. 0.1 m. in front of the Westfield High School is Grandmother's Garden, planted with nearly all known herbs and with old-fashioned flowers.
At 14.2 m. is the entrance (L) to Tekoa Park (picnic facilities). Directly opposite, across the Westfield River, is Mt. Tekoa (alt. 12II), a rugged, dome-shaped peak of solid rock.
WORONOCO, 15.5 m. (alt. 255, Town of Russell), is best known as the home of the Strathmore Paper Company Plant (open by permission), across the river. The village is at the junction with State 17 (see Tour 4A). At 17.9 m. is RUSSELL (town, alt. 266, pop. 1283, sett. 1782, incorp. 1792). Here in 1858 the Chapin and Gould Paper Mills were established. These paper mills, with those in Woronoco and Westfield, are the chief support of the areà.
HUNTINGTON, 22 m. (town, alt. 381, pop. 1345, sett. 1769, incorp. 1775), at first called Norwich, was later named for Charles F. Huntington. The town was barely a year old when it organized a military company and began to store ammunition. The townsfolk displayed little sympathy with Shays's Rebellion, and a group of rebels stormed the town, seizing John Kirkland, captain of the local militia.
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In the early days the townspeople raised corn, rye, oats, and potatoes, and in their homes carried on the manufacture of cotton and woolen cloth for the market. Potatoes, ensilage, and dairy and poultry products are now the chief sources of income.
The Murrayfield Grammar School on the Worthing Rd. houses a historic bell stolen by Union soldiers from New Orleans during the Civil War.
At 22.1 m. is the junction with Old US 20 (see Tour 4B).
Boulder Park (camping, swimming, picnicking), 24.1 m. (L), deriving its name from a huge rock by the roadside, is in the Chester-Blandford State Forest (hunting and fishing by permit).
At 25.3 m. is a Tourist Camp (fireplaces, spring).
At 26.2 m. is the junction with a road.
Left on this road through the forest along Sanderson Brook to a sign pointing to beautiful Sanderson Brook Falls, 1.1 m., 100 feet high.
At 28.8 m. is the Cortland Grinding Wheels Corporation Plant (open by permission), one of the largest manufacturers of emery wheels in the country.
Beyond the factory is a Fountain, a water spout at the end of the town water main, which in winter freezes to a glittering mosque-like dome 50 to 60 feet high.
CHESTER, 28.9 m. (town, alt. 601, pop. 1363, sett. 1760, incorp. 1765), was incorporated as Murrayfield, in honor of John Murray, treasurer of the proprietors. Ten years later the citizens voted to change the name, apparently as a result of his Tory sympathies. When Murray left the country in 1778, he was forbidden to return.
Agriculture, including the production of maple sugar from 1800 trees, and the mining of mica, emery, and corundum have been the chief occupations of the people. The granite quarries are less important than formerly.
The advent of the railroad here drew the population away from Chester Center (see Tour 4B).
The Hamilton Memorial Library (open Tues. and Fri. 3-8.30) has a large collection of minerals.
Beyond (W) the Town Hall is a high promontory called Big Rock, providing a good view; here are the entrances to some of the old emery mines. The Hamilton Emery and Corundum Company Plant (open by permission), Middlefield Rd., is one of the oldest and most important manufacturers of emery in the country. It also refines Turkish and Naxos ore.
Right from Chester on Middlefield Rd. to a trail at 1.3 m .; left on this to the sum- mit of Mt. Gobble (alt. 1600). The ascent is facilitated at intervals by a stairway.
At 29.2 m. is a junction with a dirt road.
Left on the road across a small bridge is a parking space. Up a hillside path about 1000 feet is the old Wright Emcry Minc, with a horizontal shaft running through 900 feet of rock. The mine is flooded to a depth of a few inches most of the year. .
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From Boston to New York State Line
Near-by are several other emery mines and a mica mine (guides advised for explora- tion).
At 31.5 m. is the blue-gray quarry region - home of Becket's early in- dustry. Blocks of this colorful stone are seen along the highway.
At 32.5 m. is the foot of Jacob's Ladder; the climbing highway opens up many vistas of beautiful mountain country.
At 33.1 m. on a small plateau lies Bonny Rigg Four Corners (alt. 1400), a famous old stagecoach crossroads from which State 8 (see Tour 21) runs right.
US 20 rises steadily by a series of steep hills, passing many small clearings in the woods (deer-hunting in season; picnic tables, parking places).
At 34.9 m. is Jacob's Well (R) a wayside spring dating from ox-cart days. Near the top of the Ladder new forests of white pine are slowly restoring the richness of the woodland, damaged by an ice storm in 1920.
At 35.4 m. (alt. 2100), at the summit of the pass (picnic and camping), is a wooden Tower (fee 10g) affording an extensive view.
At 37.4 m. is the junction with a side road.
Right on this road is the summer colony of Ted Shawn's Dancing Group, 1 m. (per- formances open to public one day each week), near Jacob's Dream.
US 20 drops gradually down into a marshy valley where lies Shaw Pond (camping); along its western bank, off State 8, is a thriving cottage colony.
At 38.6 m. is the junction (L) with State 8 (see Tour 21).
At 39.8 m. US 20 passes through the cutaway embankment of the 'Huckleberry Line' of the Berkshire Street Railway, and continues through wild country the chief crop of which was once huckleberries.
US 20 skirts the hill-banked shores of Greenwater Pond and traverses a narrow plain flanked by partly cleared mountain slopes.
At 42.1 m. is a junction with a dirt road.
Left on this road is Upper Goose Pond (excellent fishing).
Here is visible (R) a distant mountain range, with October Mountain the most prominent peak.
East Lee, 44.5 m. (alt. 940), was formerly a prosperous mill village, utilizing water-power from Greenwater Brook.
At 45.7 m. is the junction with State 102 and an unnumbered road.
I. Left on this unnumbered road, through the 'hidden vale of Tyringham,' at 3.4 m., built of stone and wood, with tapering towers, in landscaped gardens, is the Home of the Sculptor, Henry Hudson Kitson.
Across the valley at 4.4 m. (R) are visible the wooded slopes of Mt. Horeb, on which is Fernside, a former Shaker community. The meetings of the Shakers, in- augurated in 1784, led to the establishment of the colony in 1792. On the summit of Mt. Horeb they met in a rudely fenced yard containing bare wooden seats. It is said that true Shakers believed that there was an invisible tabernacle here in the midst of a beautiful garden where all kinds of fruit grew in abundance.
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TYRINGHAM, 5.1 m. (town, alt. 900, pop. 243, sett. 1735, incorp. 1762), origin- ally known as 'No. I' of four townships granted in 1735, was bought from the Stockbridge Indians. It was named Tyringham at the suggestion of Lord Howe, who owned an estate in Tyringham, England. Maple sugar-making was learned here from the Indians. A paper mill was built in 1832, and the manufacture of hand rakes began even earlier.
At the Center is a brick smokestack beside the brook, all that remains of a flourish- ing paper mill of the 1850's.
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) lived in Tyringham during the summer of 1903, and presented the Library with a complete set of his books.
2. Left from US 20, State 102 crosses the Housatonic River at 0.2 m. and swings through an Italian colony. The American Legion Park, 0.3 m. (R), is a civic re- creational field built on the site of a horse-racing track and park.
Straight ahead rises the long, lofty ridge of Beartown Mountain, for years the home of a hermit known as Beartown Beebe, whose weather predictions were published in many metropolitan dailies. The lowlands along the highway are called the Hop- lands because of wild hops that grow beside the brooks and river. In these two regions several local skirmishes occurred in 1787 during Shays's Rebellion. On one occasion dummy cannon made of logs and mounted on ox-cart wheels were used by loyal militiamen to frighten Shays's rebels.
SOUTH LEE, 2.4 m. (alt. 844), lies beside the Housatonic River at the foot of high, forest-covered hills and mountains. Spanning the river is a Covered Bridge. Left from South Lee 0.5 m. on a dirt road are the scientifically constructed Bear- town Mountain Ski Trails, in a section of the Beartown Mountain State Forest (see Tour 4A).
US 20, northwest of East Lee, parallels the Housatonic and threads its way among the fertile fields and rich farms.
LEE, 46.6 m. (town, alt. 888, pop. 4178, sett. 1760, incorp. 1777), named for General Charles Lee, later notorious for his treason to Washington, is a prosperous paper manufacturing town. Because of its abundant water power, three mills had been built by 1821; the Smith Paper Company, one of the first to use wood pulp, greatly reduced the price of newsprint. This company in 1913 began to manufacture India Bible paper, up to that time exclusively a British product. It is said that one half of the paper used in cigarettes during the World War was made in Lee.
The slender-spired Congregational Church, built in 1857, has walls and ceilings decorated by an itinerant German painter in true fresco. The white marble Public Library occupies the site of the log house where une original settlers held their first town meetings.
On Orchard St. is the entrance to Ferncliff, an evergreen-crowned emi- nence, on the northwest slope of which is Peter's Cave, where Peter Wilcox, Jr., condemned to die for his participation in Shays's Rebellion, hid for a time. He was captured, but was eventually pardoned.
Left from the village on West Park St., across the river, at 0.4 m., a road runs left to the Lime and Marble Quarries that supplied marble for the Capitol at Washing- ton, D.C., and for the Philadelphia City Hall. The small mill near-by has cut thousands of headstones for the graves of soldiers buried in Arlington Cemetery.
At 48 m., where US 20 swings sharply across the railroad tracks and the river, is the entrance to the Lee Paper Mills (open by permission), estab- lished in 1808.
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From Woronoco to Great Barrington
At 48.3 m. US 20 turns sharply right, ascends a steep hill, and passes charming Laurel Lake (bathing, fishing), 49.2 m. Back of the lake to the northwest amid forested green hills is The Mount, home of Mrs. Edith Wharton, the novelist. Henry James was a frequent guest here.
US 20 here gives glimpses of Mt. Stockbridge and Mt. Baldhead (L); far across Lake Mahkeenac (L), 49.9 m., is the red-roofed castle-like villa in which Andrew Carnegie was living when he died in 1919. It is. now a Jesuit novitiate, Shadowbrook.
LENOX, 51.8 m. (see Tour 17), is at the junction with US 7 (see Tour 17), with which US 20 unites, to PITTSFIELD, 58.4 m. (see PITTSFIELD).
Sec. d. PITTSFIELD to NEW YORK LINE, US 20, 7.8 m.
West of Pittsfield, US 20 crosses the Taconic Range.
At 3.4 m. is a splendid view of the mountains (N). Prominent in the group is the 'Ope of Promise (see HANCOCK, Tour 17, sec. a), a knob- like peak on Tower Mountain. On this the spirits of dead Shakers were supposed to dwell.
The Old Shaker Colony, 4.7 m., was established between 1780 and 1790. At the Community House and Handicraft Shop (open May 1-Oct. 1) the handicrafts are still cultivated, though less than a dozen members re- main of a once large and prosperous community. There is a circular stone barn here.
The Summit House (alt. 1480) and an Observation Tower are at 6 m.
At 7.1 m. on Lebanon Mountain (alt. 1400) is a turnout from which there is a view of open fields, and in the distance the wooded tops of the New York Berkshires. In the heart of the valley are a group of buildings of the Lebanon (N.Y.) Shaker Village (L). The Lebanon School for Boys occupies a group of buildings formerly owned by a Shaker Community in New York State.
At 7.8 m. US 20 crosses the New York Line, 25 m. east of Albany, N.Y.
TOUR 4 A : From WORONOCO to GREAT BARRINGTON, 31 m., State 17.
Via Blandford, Otis, and Monterey.
Road hard-surfaced and hilly. To be avoided in times of heavy snow, although usually passable for those familiar with it.
THE KNOX TRAIL (State 17), over which General Knox brought cannon from Fort Ticonderoga for General Washington's siege of Boston, is a section of the old stage road between Boston and Albany. It climbs
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1500 feet in the first five miles, passing through woodlands and farming country. The scenery is especially delightful about the third week in June, when the mountain laurel is in bloom (see Tour 4).
State 17 branches west from US 20 at WORONOCO (alt. 255), and climbs steadily through a narrow valley, down which tumbles Potash Brook in a succession of little cascades. The Old Milestone, 1.9 m. (L), marked the stage road.
A little Old Toll Gate House (private) is at 4.2 m. The Laurel Hill Stock Farm, 4.8 m., is famous for the Morgan horses which it breeds.
At 5.2 m. is the Site of an Old Kaolin Mine.
BLANDFORD, 5.8 m. (alt. 1440, town pop. 469, sett. 1735, incorp. 174I), settled by a Scotch-Irish group from Hopkinton, was at first called Glasgow, and the people of Glasgow, Scotland, offered the town a bell if the name were retained. Provincial Governor Shirley, who arrived from England on the ship 'Blandford,' denied the petition of the inhabitants and gave the town its present name.
About 1807, Amos M. Collins convinced the farmers that they should turn from the cultivation of grain and wool to the production of butter and cheese. He proposed to purchase the cows himself, sell them to the farmers, and accept payment in cheese. The venture was so successful that within a short time Blandford became one of the richest towns in the Berkshires. There is still a considerable output of dairy products, but orchardry has superseded dairy farming to some extent.
Right from Blandford on North Blandford Rd. is NORTH BLANDFORD, 3.5 m. (alt. 1360). L. from North Blandford at 1.5 m. is Long Pond. The wild and rugged country surrounding this pond was used as the setting for many scenes in 'Tarzan' and in 'The Littlest Rebel,' with Shirley Temple.
Between Blandford and Otis, State 17 traverses a heavily wooded coun- try with mountain laurel growing wild on both sides of the road.
At 11.5 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road is Winnicut Lake, 1 m. (cottages, boating, bathing, fishing), in which is a small rock island with a cave.
At 12.0 m. is the junction with a marked road. 1
Left on this road is the Otis Reservoir, 0.5 m. (bathing, fishing). The Falls on Otis Reservoir Brook, an outlet of the reservoir and a tributary of the West Branch Farmington River, are visible at 2.1 m. The road continues to the Tolland State Forest (see Tour 13).
At 15.3 m., set well back from the road, is the John Davison House (private), a belated example of New England Georgian architecture, built in 1787. The original pine paneling in the living-room has been restored to its satin finish.
OTIS, 15.8 m. (town, alt. 1240, pop. 415, sett. 1735, incorp. 1778), is at the junction with State 8 (see Tour 21). The town was named for Har- rison Gray Otis, then Speaker of the House of Representatives. In the early 19th century the town had gristmills, tanneries, and forges; but today poultry-raising is the chief source of income.
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From Woronoco to Great Barrington
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, built in 1828, has windows containing the old wavy glass. Adjoining is the Squire Filley House (open on request), a well-preserved brick house built in 1800. The imported wall paper in the living-room depicts the Coliseum at Rome, Italian olive groves, pastorals, and a marine sunset in full color.
In 1933, the Burgoyne Trail Association opened the first Nudist Colony (no visitors) in the Berkshires, founded in the belief that physical and mental health, a relaxing of nervous tension, a normal attitude toward sex, and a spiritual re-creation are fostered by properly regulated nudism.
At 17.6 m. is the main entrance to the Otis State Forest.
Left on this road is Upper Spectacle Pond, 0.8 m., an excellent picnic and camping area of about 30 acres, heavily stocked with trout from the State Fish Hatcheries.
At 19.4 m. is WEST OTIS (alt. 1390).
I. Left from West Otis on an unnumbered road is Morley Brook, at 1.1 m. A trail follows the bank of the brook to Gilder Pond, 1.6 m., privately owned by Richard Watson Gilder, poet and fishing companion of ex-President Grover Cleveland. While fishing with his friend, Mr. Cleveland was approached by a game warden who demanded to see his fish. He had one bass which did not meet the required length, and he was fined ten dollars at the Great Barrington District Court. The poet paid the fine.
2. Right from West Otis on an improved road is the old Rake Shop Dam, confining the headwaters of Hop Brook, 2.3 m., the sole remnant of the original industry of wooden rake-making.
At 20.2 m. (L) are the waters of Piedmond Pond, famous in summer for a mass of pink and white and gold water-lilies which with their dark- green pads almost cover its placid surface.
Fine villas and cottages border the highway and in the distance (R) at 21.9 m. appears Lake Garfield (boating, fishing, camping). The ap- proach to a summer cottage, at 22 m. (R), is flanked on each side by a pair of remarkably fine silver spruces.
MONTEREY, 23.1 m. (town, alt. 1200, pop. 325, sett. 1739, incorp. 1847), formerly a district of Tyringham, was named for the American victory of the Mexican War.
Right from Monterey on an improved road is a fork at 0.7 m .; right here to a Dam, 0.9 m., at the foot of Lake Garfield. The densely wooded shores of the lake are lined with masses of laurel.
At 25.5 m., State 17 begins the descent of a long decline known as Three-Mile Hill (alt. 1160).
At 25.6 m. is the junction with a side road.
Right on this road is the Beartown State Forest, 0.4 m. (sce LEE, Tour 4), embracing 7714 acres (picnic groves, foot and ski trails, fishing, bathing, hunting). Mt. Wilcox (alt. 2155), the highest point in the area, will have a fire tower erected upon its sum- mit. A thousand-acre tract has been set aside as a bird and game preserve.
At 27.5 m. is a junction with Lake Buel road.
Left on this road at 1.2 m. is Lake Buel (fishing), the terminus of a Bicycle Trail from Canaan, Conn.
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At 2.4 m. is the Center of the village of HARTSVILLE (alt. 920, Town of New Marlborough).
I. Left from Hartsville across the Konkapot River is a Picnic Area at 0.5 m. The Konkapot furnishes some of the finest trout-fishing in Berkshire County.
2. Left from Hartsville, on the second road (L), is the Federal Fish Hatchery, 0.5 m., for breeding trout.
3. Right from Hartsville is a junction with a road (L) at 1 m. which leads south to MILL RIVER, at 4.7 m. (town, alt. 720, pop. 921, sett. 1738, incorp. 1775), seat of the Town of New Marlborough. Manufactures of gunpowder and paper were at one time important industries. Just below, on the Konkapot River was a mill, the second in the United States, where paper was made from straw. At the old Carroll Paper Mill, newsprint was made during the Civil War period for the New York Tribune. Dairy products are today shipped in large quantities to New York.
South from Mill River the road parallels the Konkapot River. At 6.1 m. is a road (L) leading to the Umpachenee Falls, 0.2 m., descending a stairlike rock formation for 0.5 m.
The road continues south, and at 9 m. a path (L through a field leads to the en- trance of Cat Hole Cave, over 400 feet deep, with several levels which may be reached by rough wooden ladders.
4. Straight ahead from Hartsville is NEW MARLBOROUGH, 3.5 m. (alt. 1380), formerly a station on the famous Red Bird Stagecoach Line. Here stands a Monu- ment to Elihu Burrit, the 'Learned blacksmith.'
At 4.9 m. the road bears left and reaches the village of SOUTHFIELD at 7.7 m. (alt. 1220, Town of New Marlborough).
Rock Ledge, sometimes called Cook's Ledge (accessible by motor), 0.2 m. southeast of Southfield, affords a sweeping view. Tipping Rock, 0.4 m. southwest of South- field, is a 40-ton boulder so delicately balanced that a pressure of the hand will sway but not dislodge it.
Straight ahead from Southfield the road (marked Norfolk, Conn.) continues south- ward up hill and down dale through forest and farm country. At 11.9 m. is the junc- tion with a road (R.) which leads to CAMPBELL'S FALLS, 12.4 m., in a State Reservation. This cataract, one of the most impressive and picturesque in the Berkshire region, was little known until recently. The Whiting River pours over a split-rock ledge in a spectacular drop of 80 feet, and then rushes on, foaming and swirling, through a deep gulch in the evergreen woods. A trail leads along the river bank from Canaan to Clayton, Conn., a distance of about 8 m.
At 28.6 m. is a junction with Wildcat Foot Trail, a branch of the Ap- palachian Trail (see Tour 9) which leads (L) to another section of the Beartown State Forest (see above), 2 m., and (R) to top of Warner Mountain.
At 29.1 m. is an entrance (L) to East Mountain State Forest Ski Trail's and Great Barrington Sport Center.
State 17 traverses hilly, pastoral country and at 31 m. reaches the junction with US 7 (see Tour 17).
TOUR 4 B : From HUNTINGTON to HINSDALE, 20.7 m., Sky Line Trail.
Via Chester Center and Middlefield.
Mostly hard-surfaced road; not recommended for winter or early spring.
THE SKY LINE TRAIL runs through heavily wooded and hilly coun- try across the central Berkshire Hills. There are few points of interest on this route, but the scenery is unusually attractive, especially during the latter part of June, when mountain laurel is in bloom.
'Old US 20' branches northwest from US 20 about 0.1 m. west of the Green in Huntington. At 1.3 m. the Sky Line Trail turns right and abruptly ascends from the Valley of Roaring Brook to a plateau of rolling hills at an altitude of 1500 feet.
CHESTER CENTER, 5.2 m. (alt. 601, Town of Chester), is the old town center entirely cut off now from the modern center, Chester Village (see Tour 4), by a high range of hills. The Congregational Church (L) contains parts of the first church, which was located a little to the north of the present site. The De Wolf House (private), probably the oldest house in the town, is a fine Colonial type and was built about 1770.
Right from the Center a dirt road passes through the valley of Day Brook. On a hillside at 1 m., is Hiram's Tomb. Hiram Smith and his sister are buried in an enormous glacial boulder about 30 feet in diameter, a natural rock sepulchre. The vault is sealed with fragments of the granite chipped off in cutting out the tomb. It is recorded that Hiram had a horror of being buried in the ground and had this tomb made during the last years of his life. He willed enough money to have a highway leading to the entrance of his tomb kept in repair, but the trustee of this fund diverted the money to his own use, so the tomb is now in the midst of a hem- lock forest and difficult to find. The seeker must go on foot through briar, brush, and swamp to reach this unique mausoleum.
At 7 m., from the top of the hill, is a grand view on both sides of the highway: the beacon of Gobble Mountain (L) with the Berkshire peaks beyond, and the Central Massachusetts hills and Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire.
The Sky Line Trail continues its climb, to level land atop a range of hills. At 8.1 m. (R) is a Fire Tower from the summit of which is one of the best views of a mountain area, extending north to Mt. Greylock and east to Mt. Monadnock.
At 9.8 m. (L) is the George Bell House (private), once the headquarters of Shays's insurgents.
At 10.3 m. is the junction with a country road (R).
Right on this road at 2 m. are the Glendale Falls, a series of rapids and cascades, on Glendale Brook as it enters the Middle Branch of the Westfield River.
At 10.7 m., the junction of the Huntington-Middlefield route with the
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Chester-Middlefield Rd., stands (R) the Harold Pease House (open), an old dwelling formerly a tavern. The original diamond pattern of the old barroom floor is still plainly visible in the living room.
MIDDLEFIELD, 11.9 m. (town, alt. 918, pop. 220, sett. about 1780, incorp. 1783). Many of the settlers migrated from Connecticut and Pennsylvania after the Revolutionary War, impoverished by their losses at the hands of both the British and the Indians. Most of the inhabitants were loyal patriots and expelled a number of Tories. For some time after 1794 woolen goods were made in the homes of residents; later several mills and fulling houses were established. The demand for wool encouraged the raising of Saxony sheep, an occupation that flourished for a long period. In 1874 and 1901, great floods caused considerable loss; the town declined in prosperity and its factories removed to other sites. Cattle-raising thus assumed a new importance, and Middlefield became a beef-producing center.
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