USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people > Part 60
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Right from the village on an improved road is Pine Island Lake, 2.3 m., an increas- ingly popular location for summer residences.
Sec. c. NORTHAMPTON to JUNCTION with US 7, 43.9 m.
State 9 branches right from Main St. on Elm St. in Northampton, and passes through a level fertile farming land.
At HAYDENVILLE, 6.2 m. (alt. 439, town of Williamsburg), cloth- covered buttons are believed to have been first manufactured by ma- chinery.
On State 9, 0.2 m. west of the Center, is the Hayden House (private), home of Governor Hayden, a white-painted, dignified brick dwelling, built about 1800. Set 50 feet back from the road and surrounded by elms, this mansion has four massive fluted Doric pillars and a carved door.
State 9 continues through a narrow valley.
WILLIAMSBURG, 8.3 m. (town, alt. 500, pop. 1859, sett. 1735, incorp. 1771), was once in Hatfield Town. The earliest settler was for 17 years without a close neighbor. By the end of the 18th century many small factories had been opened here, utilizing the abundant water-power and producing leather, cotton, and woolen goods, shoes, buttons, pens, pen- holders, hardware, woodwork, and ironware. In 1874 a dam, built nine years before about three miles above the village, burst, releasing a raging flood that drowned 136 people, washed out the entire industrial section of this town, and seriously damaged neighboring communities. The local mills were not rebuilt; today only a few very small factories are in operation.
The Meekins Library is an attractive building of gray granite given by Stephen Meekins, a farmer, who made $40,000 in raising sheep. He in- tended leaving this sum for a monument but was persuaded to use it for a library. Another town benefactor was Dr. Daniel Collins, long a famil- iar figure as he made his rounds on his horse, his saddlebags bulging not only with medicines but often with food and garments for the poor. He established the Collins Fund for the benefit of needy local students.
At 8.7 m. is the junction with State 143 (see Tour 8A).
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From Boston to Pittsfield
At 9.2 m. is SEARSVILLE (alt. 700, town of Williamsburg), a small vil- lage.
At 9.7 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Left on this road at 0.1 m. is a fork.
I. Left from the fork through a pasture is Rhena's Cave, 0.5 m., a mass of rock with several apertures. According to legend, the beautiful Rhena Meekins, sister of Stephen, donor of the library, lived here as a recluse after her parents forbade her to marry the man she loved.
2. Right from the fork is Silas Snow Farm, 0.3 m., part of the tract received by Samuel Barber from King George II by a deed still extant. Interesting geologic formations on this land are studied by students of Smith and Amherst Colleges; the bricks used in building the Governor Hayden House in Haydenville (see above) were made here. A path from the house leads through the pasture 0.5 m. to Bur- goyne's Cave. Here, according to legend, Burgoyne took shelter from a rainstorm as he was being taken to prison after the Battle of Saratoga.
At 12 m. is the junction with a side road.
Right on this road at 0.1 m. is the junction with a dirt road. Left on the second dirt road and right at 0.1 m. on a path through open fields, then through the woods to Packard Falls.
Straight ahead on the main side road at 0.6 m. is a path; left here through the woods to the Devil's Den, a rocky gorge (guide needed for difficult descent to Mill River bed) with beautiful granite walls green with moss, and deep pools.
At 13.3 m. is the Whale Inn (open in summer), built and occupied by three generations of Putneys. The old plastering and wide floor boards, lovely paneling, and huge hearthstones from the near-by ledges of Goshen schist are well preserved. In the center of the broken pediment over the front door is a whale, a modern addition. The Whale Inn was christened by the late Arthur Warner of Florence, Massachusetts, who said he had always heard that
The Whale, he swam around the ocean And landed Jonah up in Goshen.
GOSHEN, 13.7 m. (town, alt. 1460, pop. 257, sett. 1761, incorp. 1781), is in a dairying community that derives profit also from poultry-raising, lumbering, and maple-sugaring.
Right from Goshen on West Shore Rd. to Highland Lake, 0.3 m. (boating, fishing, swimming).
At 14.1 m. is the junction with Ashfield Rd.
Right on this road to the entrance at 0.1 m. of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution State Forest (picnic grove); right at 1.1 m. on a trail to Moore's Hill (alt. 1713), a rounded elevation from which is an unobstructed panorama of the country- side.
At 14.5 m. (R) is the Snake House; in front of it are two boulders banded with veins of contrasting stone that resemble snakes.
LITHIA, 16 m. (town of Goshen), is a tiny village. North of the Center on State 112 is Mountain Rest, a summer resort with several buildings, including a community hall and playroom for children, and with facilities for outdoor sports. While the general public is accommodated, prefer-
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ence is given to missionaries of all denominations who are home on furlough.
SWIFT RIVER, 17.8 m. (alt. 1090, town of Cummington) junction of the Swift River with a branch of the Westfield River; west of the village, State 9 meanders through the Westfield Valley, which occasionally wid- ens into broad stretches of farmland.
CUMMINGTON, 20.7 m. (town, alt. 1050, pop. 610, sett. 1762, incorp. 1779), was named for Colonel Cummings, purchaser of the land. Cotton and woolen mills, paper mills, tanneries, and other factories flourished here for a while in the early 19th century and then dwindled away.
A Covered Bridge, 50 feet north of the Square, is one of the few remaining in Massachusetts.
At 21.4 m. is the junction with a marked road.
Left on this road at 0.4 m. is a fork.
I. Left from here 0.6 m. is the Playhouse in the Hills, also known as the Music Box, where music, sculpture, painting, writing, and dancing are taught as creative expression rather than professions. Founded in 1922 by Katherine Frazier, it is in the original Center of Cummington and includes among its buildings the par- sonage of the first Cummington church. A monument on Playhouse property marks the Site of the Birthplace of William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878).
2. Right from the fork 1.6 m. is (L) the Bryant Homestead (open Mon., Wed., Fri. 2.30-5, June 15-Sept. 15), a beautiful two-and-a-half-story Dutch Colonial house of white clapboards with a wing on each side. Originally a one-and-a-half- story dwelling, the main structure was elevated in 1856 and a new lower floor was added. The smaller wing was used by Bryant as a library and study.
At 22.6 m., marked by a white wooden sign set about 15 feet from the bridge, is the brook of Bryant's poem, 'The Rivulet.'
At 26.1 m. is WEST CUMMINGTON (alt. 1200).
Right from West Cummington a marked road follows the East Branch of the Westfield River; at 2.8 m. is the junction with a dirt road; right here to another road at 3.3 m .; right here to the Windsor State Forest. A foot trail leads to an Ob- servation Point in the northwest corner of the area near the Westfield River.
The motor road leads past a swimming pool to a parking space about 300 feet from the head of the Windsor Jambs. This cascade, part of Boundary Brook, is viewed from the top of rock cliffs reached by several foot trails. At one point the waters take a sudden drop of about 50 feet between walls of solid jagged rock, and rush on over boulders and ledges.
At 27.4 m. is EAST WINDSOR (alt. 1320). At the Center in the gorge beside Walker Brook is (R) an old Red Mill that has been turning out lollypop sticks and butchers' skewers for years.
State 9, winding between the stony brook (L) and the steep side of the mountain (R), ascends by abrupt grades to a plateau.
WINDSOR, 32.3 m. (town, alt. 944, pop. 412, sett. 1767, incorp. 1771), originally called Gageborough for the Governor, General Thomas Gage, changed its name, presumably for patriotic reasons.
Right in the Center is a four-story Observation Tower (open), from which is a comprehensive view of the mountain country, including Greylock.
53I
From Boston to Pittsfield
Right from Windsor on an improved road is a State Camping Site, 3 m., in the Savoy State Forest, a detached area some distance from the main forest (sce Tour 2).
West of Windsor, State 9 descends again into a valley. The downgrade unfolds a magnificent view, framed by forests of spruce, of the distant Taconic Mountain Range west of Pittsfield.
At 36.2 m. is the junction with a marked road lined with maples.
Left sharply on this road to the Falls of Wahconah Brook, 0.5 m., which in three leaps descend about 80 feet and then wind through evergreen woods to join the East Branch of the Housatonic River. The brook's name comes from a legend: Wahconah, a young Mohawk girl, was courted by Nessacus, a handsome young warrior of an enemy tribe, and by his rival Yonnongah, a war-hardened Mohawk. Wahconah loved Nessacus, but her father insisted on leaving the decision to the Great Spirit. Below the falls in the middle of the stream rose a rock, dividing the river into two channels. A canoe with Wahconah aboard was to be launched above the rock, and guided by the Great Spirit either to the side of the stream where Nessacus waited or to the other side and Yonnongah. Although the Mohawk, on the night before the trial, sank rocks in the river bed to divert the current to his side, the canoe floated to Nessacus and brought him a happy bride.
The Flintstone Farm (R), 36.6 m., distinguished by its large red barns, has been cultivated since 1819 by the Crane family of paper-makers. Champion shorthorn cattle are bred on this farm and experiments in the breeding of Belgian horses and Berkshire swine are conducted.
At 38.4 m. is the junction with a road.
Right on this road to the Wizard's Glen, 1.3 m., a narrow valley enclosed by steep hills covered far up their sides with mammoth flint rocks. There is a tradition that Indian priests offered human sacrifices in this dim glen to the spirits of evil.
At 38.8 m. is the junction with State 8 (see Tour 21); between this point and 41.2 m. State 8 and State 9 are united.
DALTON, 39.5 m. (town, alt. 1199, pop. 4282, sett. 1755, incorp. 1784), originally granted to Colonel Oliver Partridge and others, was known as the Ashuelot Equivalent.
The Crane Paper Mills were established here in 1801. Although a woolen mill was built some 13 years later by the Rev. Isaiah Weston, the manu- facture of paper, controlled by the Cranes, the Carsons, and the Westons, has remained the chief industry. The Crane mills have manufactured currency paper for the Federal Government since 1846, and now supply a world market.
The Crane Museum (open daily, 2-5), maintained by the Crane Paper Company, was the rag-room of the Stone Mill, built in 1844. It has a complete collection of exhibits showing the history and progress of the mills and of the paper industry in general.
State 9 parallels the East Branch of the Housatonic River, passing several Crane mills.
At 41.2 m. State 8 (see Tour 21) branches right.
At 43.9 m. is the junction with US 7 (see Tour 17), 2 m. north of Pittsfield.
TOUR 8 A : From WILLIAMSBURG to HINSDALE, 25.7 m., State 143.
Via Chesterfield, Worthington, and Peru.
Rolled gravel roadbed; very steep at times; poor in winter.
STATE 143, bordered in June by masses of pink and white laurel, passes over high hills affording excellent views. Heavy growths of spruce and birch line both sides for long stretches. The valleys are narrow and the road descends and ascends steeply.
West of Williamsburg (alt. 494) on State 9 (see Tour 8), State 143 begins a hilly and winding climb.
CHESTERFIELD, 6.3 m. (town, alt. 1440, pop. 445, sett. about 1760, incorp. 1762), originally called New Hingham, was eventually named for the polished Earl of Chesterfield. Farming and cattle-raising have been the most prominent economic activities from the beginning, while the forests have always encouraged the lumber trade.
West of Chesterfield, State 143 drops about 600 feet in 2 miles.
At 8.6 m. is WEST CHESTERFIELD (alt. 795, Town of Chesterfield) on the East Branch of the Westfield River. A small lumber mill here is the only appreciable industry in the town.
Left from West Chesterfield on an improved road following the river is Chester- field Gorge, 1 m., 1000 feet long and 30 feet deep. The long grooves in the walls were made by glacial action. In the gorge a gift shop, run by an old-time Yankee,
has many odd labor-saving devices and machines invented and made by the owner.
West of West Chesterfield, the road climbs steadily.
At 12.8 m. is WORTHINGTON CORNERS (alt. 1500, Town of Worth- ington).
Left from Worthington Corners on State 112 is WORTHINGTON CENTER, 0.7 m. (town, alt. 1460, pop. 530, sett. 1764, incorp. 1768), a community engaged in dairy farming. In season the maple sugar industry provides an additional source of revenue.
At 2.7 m. on State 112 is the junction with a dirt road; left here 0.5 m. to Indian Oven, a natural formation in a large rock, said to have been used by the Indians for baking.
At 5.6 m. on State 112 is the village of SOUTH WORTHINGTON (town of Worth- ington). Left across the bridge here on a country road is the junction with another road at 0.2 m .; left here to the Birthplace of the Rev. Russell H. Conwell (open), 0.4 m., a red-painted farmhouse, maintained much as it was in the early days of the educator who founded Temple University in Philadelphia. The main part of the building dates back to about 1800; the veranda and kitchen are recent addi- tions.
About 5.8 m. on State 112 is South Worthington Cascade, a gentle but beautiful falls with a 50-foot drop.
Northwest of Worthington Corners, State 143 passes between several beautiful estates as it rises to a higher level.
533
From Williamsburg to Hinsdale
At 14.6 m. is the entrance to the Worthington State Forest, a 412-acre tract of natural woodland (picnicking facilities), with shaded walks and many points of scenic beauty.
WEST WORTHINGTON, 17 m. (alt. 1300, Town of Worthington). West Worthington Falls, 0.4 m. south on Huntington Rd. makes a 75-foot plunge down a tree-bordered gorge. In summer there is only a sparkling rivulet falling over bare rocks into the chasm, but in floodtime there is a roaring torrent.
PERU, 21 m. (town, alt. 2295, pop. 151, sett. 1767, incorp. 1771), the highest village in the State, is perched on the summit of the Green Mt. Range. First called Partridgefield, it was incorporated 1806 under its present name on the suggestion of the Rev. John Leland 'because,' he said, 'it is like the Peru of South America, a mountain town, and if no gold or silver mines are under her rocks, she favors hard money and begins with a P.'
In former days the poor of Peru were disposed of at auction. In 1807 'Abagail Thayer was bid off by Shadrach Pierce at 90 cents a week for victualizing'; she was auctioned for nearly 30 successive years. The last of the old-time 'Pooh-Bahs' of the hill towns of the Berkshires was Frank Creamer, a shrewd and entertaining public auctioneer. He was known as the 'Mayor' of Peru, holding all important town offices, while his wife held most of the minor ones.
Because of the condition of the roads, church services are held here only from May until November, and school opens in August and is closed from Christmas until March. A few families hold to an old New England custom of 'storing up for the winter,' and in the fall buy a whole winter's supply of groceries.
Self-sufficiency and the ability to solve their own problems are two char- acteristics held in high esteem by the townspeople. Back in 1799, Charles Ford moved into Peru with a horse and cart, a yoke of oxen, and one hog. Since the hog had to walk, it became footsore and caused much delay. A shoemaker by trade, Mr. Ford had leather and tools with him, so he sat down by the roadside, then and there made boots of sole leather for the hog, fastened them on, and neither he nor his traveling companion encountered further difficulty.
The most exciting day for Peru is the second of March, town-meeting day, the pivot around which the town revolves all year. All the townspeople, young and old, and even Peru voters living in other towns and cities during the winter, turn out for this event. At times the intensity of feeling almost creates a feud - though there has never been any serious disturbance - as the contest continues, not between the regular parties, Democrats and Republicans, but between those on one side in local affairs and those on the other.
State 143 continues west, and begins its ascent of a long hill through pleasant wooded country.
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The Ashmere Reservoir, named by William Cullen Bryant, is passed at 23.2 m.
At 25.7 m. is HINSDALE (see Tour 21) at the junction with State 8 (see Tour 21).
TOUR 9 : From VERMONT STATE LINE (Stamford) to CON- NECTICUT STATE LINE (Salisbury), 86 m. (Appalachian Foot Trail).
Via Clarksburg, North Adams, Adams, New Ashford, Cheshire, Dalton, Wash- ington, Tyringham, Monterey, New Marlborough, Sheffield, Egremont, and Mt. Washington.
B. & M., B. & A., and N.Y., N.H. & H. R.R.'s service this area.
THE Massachusetts section of the Appalachian Trail runs north and south through Berkshire County from Vermont to Connecticut. Wild mountain scenery provides natural grandeur, thrilling beauty, and excit- ing climbs.
Leaving the Vermont border, the trail runs from its connection with the Long Trail of that State to Blackinton, and continues south over an aban- doned trolley line beside State 2 (see Tour 2). Through North Adams and Adams the varied route passes over or near such picturesque points as Jones's Nose (alt. 3000), Mount Greylock (alt. 3505), the Hopper (alt. 1000), and Bellows' Pipe (alt. 2700).
In Cheshire the route joins with State 8 (see Tour 21), where a marker tells of the famous Cheshire Cheese, 1235 pounds in weight, sent in 1801 to President Jefferson.
The Trail runs through Dalton and there strikes the junction of State 8 (see Tour 21) and State 9 (see Tour 8). From here it continues across the Housatonic River, passes over the peak of Warner Mountain (alt. 1835), descends to the Pittsfield-Becket road, and enters Washington Town. A short distance farther south the trail ascends Bald Top (alt. 2200), and runs through the October Mountain State Forest. It skirts the north and east shores of Finerty Lake and passes by a steep climb over the sum- mit of Becket Mountain (alt. 2200), to reach US 20, Jacob's Ladder High- way (see Tour 4). The slopes in this vicinity have been cleared to provide a ski trail for winter use.
On through the Beartown State Forest the Trail crosses a stream, with a swimming-pool (R), passes below the summit of Mt. Wilcox, and enters the Swann State Forest. From here the route runs in a southerly direction through continuous scenic splendor, traversing the towns of Great Bar- rington, Sheffield, and Egremont. It climbs June Mountain (alt. 1140),
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535
From Plymouth to E. Providence, R.I.
descends to cross the Housatonic River and the Housatonic Valley, and rises again to the crest of Jug End (alt. 1600) and the summit of Mt. Everett (alt. 2624), where an observation tower provides a spectacular view of the countryside in all directions. From here the Trail passes Guilder Pond (alt. 2100), the highest in the State, and reaches Sage's Ravine on the Mass .- Conn. Line.
TOUR 10 : From PLYMOUTH to RHODE ISLAND STATE LINE (E. Providence), 42.4 m., US 44.
Via Carver, Plympton, Middleborough, Lakeville, Raynham, Taunton, Reho- both.
N.Y., N.H. & H. R.R. services this area. Hard-surfaced road.
US 44 passes mainly through a rural countryside watered by numerous lakes and rivers. The open character of the country offers extensive views from the summits of the low hills.
West from PLYMOUTH (see PLYMOUTH), US 44 follows the old King's Highway, one of the first legally established roads in America. It winds past pleasant farms, and runs between acres of cranberry bogs. NORTH CARVER, 8.2 m. (Town of Carver, alt. 114, pop. 1559, sett. 1660, incorp. 1790), a peaceful farming community, was named for John Carver, first governor of Plymouth Colony.
The Green is the Site of King Philip's Spring, now filled in, where Indians, returning from the attack on Chiltonville during King Philip's War (1675-76), are said to have stopped to wash the blood of the settlers from their hands. Opposite the Green is the Sturtevant Home (private) (L.) (built about 1750), a weather-beaten gambrel-roofed house with a lean-to.
Right from North Carver on State 58, a fair tar road leads past cranberry bogs and beautiful pine groves to PLYMPTON, 2.6 m. (town, alt. 79, pop. 558, sett. 1662, in- corp. 1707). Because of its geographic propinquity to Plymouth, it was named for Plympton, a borough near Plymouth, England. Industries were born, lived for a brief span, and died; a casting factory turned out cannon and cannonballs used in the Revolution. A factory making boxes for farm produce is the only one still in operation.
Left on Elm St. is the Deborah Sampson House (private), 0.4 m., an unpainted Cape Cod cottage, once occupied during her early childhood by Deborah Samp- son, who as 'Robert Shurtleff' served in the Revolutionary War. Deborah was born in Plympton in 1760. Owing to the defection of her father and the poverty of her mother she was forced to live with families in Plympton and Middleborough until she was 18. About this time she left home and became a school teacher in Holden, where, the story goes, she fell in love with David Potter, who was having difficulty with the authorities of the Continental Army due to desertion. Deborah
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High Roads and Low Roads
is supposed to have disguised herself and enlisted in order to fight shoulder to shoulder with her young man. She served in two major campaigns in the company of Captain Webb of Holden. At Tarrytown, New York, she received a sword cut on the head and a bullet in the shoulder. The plucky girl treated both wounds her- self to avoid detection and carried the bullet the rest of her life. During the York- town campaign she contracted a fever and her disguise was discovered in the hos- pital. The doctor did not reveal her secret but sent her with a letter to General Washington, who gave her an honorable discharge and a personal letter of appre- ciation. She was married in 1784 to Benjamin Gannett, a farmer of Sharon. Dur- ing Washington's presidency she was invited to the capital. She also received lands and a pension from Congress.
Straight ahead from Plympton on a hard-surfaced unnumbered road to junction with State 106, 5.1 m .; left here to Wolf Rock, 5.6 m., 200 yds. off road (L). Here in the early days of the Colony a little band of eight people, including two women and small children, fought off a fierce pack of wolves.
At 14.5 m. on US 44 is the Wading Place, identified thus: 'Site of the Ford or Wading Place where the Indian Trail from Plymouth to "Middleberry" (Middleborough) crossed the Nemasket River. When the Town was established in 1669 its southern boundary was described as extending "Six mile from the Wading Place."'
At 14.6 m. is the junction with a narrow road near a factory.
Left on this road, which crosses the old wooden bridge over the Nemasket River, . is Hand Rock, 0.5 m. (footpath from the bridge), so-called because of the apparent imprint of a human hand carved upon it by some unknown sculptor. During King Philip's War an Indian mounted this rock, which was opposite the Old Fort on the farther bank of the river, at least 155 rods distant. With taunts and gestures he tried to provoke an attack. After thoughtful deliberation, the commander lent his highly prized gun to a crack marksman, Isaac Howland, who killed the heckler with a single shot. This was considered a remarkable feat for that time, as the Indian was far beyond the range of an ordinary musket.
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