USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts : a guide to its places and people > Part 66
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At 7.6 m., near two ponds is Troy's Baseball Field where fast semi- professional games are played.
At 8 m. are Crane Pond (R), a breeding place for several species of fish; and Shaker Mill Pond (L), full of speckled trout.
At 8.4 m. is a junction with a hard-surfaced road, an alternate route to Great Barrington.
Right on this road, 1 m., is a junction with a dirt road. Left on this dirt road is WEST STOCKBRIDGE CENTER, 3 m. (alt. 915) in a former marble quarrying district.
Left from the Center on West Rd., which winds through a valley of farms and summer homes, to ALFORD, 11 m. (town, alt. 960, pop. 210, sett. about 1740, incorp. 1775), named in honor of John Alford, founder of the Alford professorship of Moral Philosophy at Harvard University. Alford marble was used in New York's City Hall, and in the State House, the Market, and the Law Building at Albany. Quarrying has lately been discontinued.
I. Left from the village on East Rd. to Tom Ball Mountain (alt. 1930), 3 m. On its western slope is the Devil's Den (reached by a 0.5 m. footpath), a large cave un- pleasant because of its constantly dripping cold water and its uneven floor. Two birch trees stand sentinel at the entrance.
2. Left from Alford on West Rd. to GREAT BARRINGTON, 14.5 m. (see Tour 17) and the junction with State 41.
WEST STOCKBRIDGE, 8.8 m. (town, alt. 744, pop. 1138, sett. 1766, incorp. 1775), is an attractive farming town nestled among valleys and wooded hills. William Bryant, the first settler, came from Canaan, Conn., to this region then called by the Indians Qua-pau-kuk. During the next few years some 40 families followed him. During the early 19th century, West Stockbridge enjoyed prominence and prosperity as the eastern terminus of the Hudson and Berkshire Railroad. In that period a paper mill, marble quarries, sawmills, and limekilns flourished, but of these industries there remain today only two limeworks. For many years the town has been well known as a summer resort.
At the junction with State 102 is an Old Stone Mill with a stone marked 'Anno 1830'; it is now the studio of an artist.
At 14.6 m. is the junction with an improved highway.
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Left on this highway is HOUSATONIC, 0.3 m. (alt. 755; Town of Great Barring- ton), an industrial village, and the home of the Monument Mills, one of the largest textile plants in the State, named for Monument Mountain (alt. 1640), against which the town nestles.
VAN DEUSENVILLE, 16.5 m. (alt. 720; Town of Great Barrington), on the Williams River (trout fishing in season), one of the largest streams in Berkshire County, is another suburb of Great Barrington.
At 18.6 m. is the junction with US 7 (see Tour 17) with which State 41 unites through GREAT BARRINGTON (see Tour 17), 19.2 m., to a junction (R) at 19.6 m.
West of its lower junction with US 7, State 41 crosses the Green River, 20.6 m., a beautiful stream of clear water flowing over fragments of white marble; it inspired one of Bryant's poems. A marker (L) near the bridge is on the site of a camp of General Jeffrey Amherst on his way to Ticon- deroga in 1758. General Knox also used the route here in 1776. The Green River Mill (R) is still in operation after a century of service to local farmers.
At 21.2 m. is the junction with State 69.
Right on State 69 is the Great Barrington Airport, 1 m., on level ground of Egremont Plain.
NORTH EGREMONT, 2.1 m. (alt. 815), is a village with old houses shaded by tall maples and elms.
Right from North Egremont on a dirt road is Prospect Lake, 0.5 m. (excellent pickerel and perch fishing; boating, bathing, camping), a small deep pond.
SOUTH EGREMONT, 23.2 m. (town, alt. 740, pop. 569, sett. 1730, incorp. 1775), was named in honor of Charles Windham, Earl of Egre- mont, a liberal and a friend of the American cause in the Revolution. Prominent among the early plants utilizing the abundant water-power were a chair factory, cheese factories, sawmills, and axle works. A quarry producing a fine grade of marble is no longer worked owing to marketing difficulties.
At the Center is the Olde Egremont Tavern, built 1730, restored in 1931. Its Blue Grill overlooks an old swimming hole in the mountain brook at the foot of the shady lawns and its Cedar Grill has a large, ancient fire- place. Near-by is the restored Egremont Inn, built 1780, once a station on the stagecoach route. Adjacent to the inn is the Old Blacksmith Shop of 1730 (open in summer), now a store selling old furniture and other articles.
On Sheffield Back Rd. is the Oldest Private House (1761). This typical Dutch Colonial brick structure has the initials of John and Mary Fuller, original owners, and a huge heart inlaid at one end.
At 23.7 m. is the junction with Mt. Everett Reservation Rd.
Right on this road; left at 0.5 m. on a dirt road running through Guilder Hollow to Jug End, 1.1 m. (privately owned), containing Bat's Den, a group of four caves, two of which, Growling Bear and the Pothole, are difficult to reach (beware of rattle- snakes). The Crystal Pool Cave, though small, has beautiful stalactites and stalag- · mites.
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From Pittsfield to Salisbury, Conn.
The Appalachian Trail (see Tour 9) runs off Jug End from Mt. Everett. There is a fine ski trail (private; fee charged) here. Reservation Rd. follows Goodale Brook into a deep gorge. The mountains opposite rise higher and higher.
At 5.4 m. (R), and identified by large maples and a heap of stones, is the Site of Sky Farm, now almost obliterated by forest growth. Here lived the Goodale sisters, Elaine and Dora, the 'apple blossom poets' whose verse was popular throughout the country in the 1870's, and whose stories in The Youth's Companion were favorites.
At 5.6 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Right (straight ahead) 0.5 m. is a foot trail (R) that winds through woods and meadows to Profile Rock, 1.5 m., a stone face on the brink of Mt. Ethel (alt. 1900). At 1.3 m. (R) is a junction with a dirt road that runs into picturesque Bash-Bish State Forest, a 394-acre reservation.
At 3.7 m. is a parking area, whence a foot trail leads 0.3 m. to Bash-Bish Falls (picnic tables, cut wood, fireplaces). From points along the path are views of a deep cleft in the solid rock, 400 to 500 feet deep, at the base of which are the falls. The stream plunges the final 50 feet into a rock-bottomed pool, in which, in certain lights, it is reported, can be seen the image of an Indian girl who, disappointed in love, drowned herself in the waters.
At 3.9 m. (L) is a trail to the clearing near the Falls.
At the junction at 5.6 m. Reservation Rd. turns left; it passes through newly de- veloped agricultural lands where potato-raising, once one of the principal in- dustries of Mt. Washington, is being revived.
UNION CHURCH, 9.2 m. (alt. 1670, pop. 64, sett. 1692, incorp. 1779; Town of Mt. Washington), is the principal village of the town. The chief industry has always been farming, although considerable income is now derived from enter- taining tourists. The community is without a post-office or store.
Left from Union Church an improved road leads into the Mt. Everett Reservation, a State park of 1200 acres.
At 1.3 m. on this reservation road is Guilder Pond (alt. 1975), surrounded by dense evergreens and almost covered in summer with pink and white water-lilies. A foot trail circles the pond.
At 1.7 m. are a picnic ground and parking area called The First Level. From this point a foot trail leads 0.5 m. to the Dome (alt. 2624). Here a steel tower with a sheltered observation platform provides a view extending to the dim outlines of the Green Mountains in Vermont and the Berkshires of Connecticut.
South of Union Church, on the main road 13.2 m., is ALANDER (alt. 1647), once the central village of Mt. Washington. From here the road passes through thick woods along the ridge to the Connecticut Line 16.2 m.
At 24.5 m. State 41, called here the Under Mountain Rd., winds its way close to the mountains, through an area of summer homes, meadowland, and pine groves.
At 26.4 m. is Twin Firs, the red-brick home of Walter Prichard Eaton, Associate Professor of Play-Writing at Yale University, author, and critic of the drama. The house, flanked by the tall trees for which it was named, is protected from view by a hedge of evergreens.
At 29.3 m. is a junction with a foot trail.
Right on this trail to Race Brook Falls, 0.5 m., are three lovely glens whose brooks cascade along the base of the Taconic Range. The Upper Falls are twin cataracts, one above the other.
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At 31.4 m. is a junction with a foot trail (private).
Right on this trail, 0.7 m., are high Bcar Rock Falls. From their source in a beauti- ful lake in Race Mountain, the waters drop through a wild gorge.
At 31.7 m. State 41 crosses the Connecticut State Line, about 6 m. north of Salisbury, Conn. Here Sage's Ravine Brook passes under the highway and descends 50 feet in a series of cascades.
TOUR 17B : From LANESBOROUGH to SUMMIT OF MT. GREYLOCK, 10.3 m., Rockwell Rd.
Improved dirt road. Impassable during winter except in lower stretch.
ROCKWELL ROAD, or Tourist Road as it is more commonly called, is the better of two roads to the summit of Mt. Greylock (alt. 3505) (see Tour 17; for Notch Rd. from North Adams see Tour 2). From its junction with US 7, 8 m. north of Pittsfield, Rockwell Rd. is marked Mt. Greylock Reservation Rd. It winds up through hill-farms and upland moor, pro- viding wide, beautiful vistas of near-by vales and distant peaks swimming in blue haze. From the summit itself, five States are visible, a panorama like a brilliant-hued patchwork quilt whose blue-gray fringe is the vague horizon.
The picturesque area surrounding Mt. Greylock is ideal for winter hiking and sports. Miles of woodland trails stretching over mountains are easily accessible. The trails are suitable for leisurely progress, with here and there a downhill run for mild excitement. In winter the only sounds breaking the silence are the soughing of the wind through the bare branches of the trees, the snap of a twig, the soft plop of falling snow- fluffs, the startled cry of a grouse aroused by human approach.
At 1 m. there is a glimpse of Lanesborough (S) and the distant range of the Taconics (W). At 2.9 m. the whole valley comes into view, rimmed by the Taconic Range, with Mt. Petersburg (alt. 2510), towering aloft; the Green Mountains of Vermont loom up majestically.
At 3.2 m., the junction with Bowen Rd., a magnificent view of the Hoosac Valley is obtained.
Continuing the ascent, the road enters wooded country clothed with spruce and small deciduous growth, and at 4.6 m. passes close to the base of Rounds Rock, a dark cliff rising abruptly from the wet lowlands, just within the boundaries of the Greylock Reservation. The road winds its way through thick woodland, making hairpin turns around rocky bluffs and promontories, until it emerges once more into open country at 5.5 m.
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From Lanesborough to Summit of Mt. Greylock
Jones's Nose (alt. 3000), a ledge-like cliff on Saddle Ball Mountain (alt. 3300), appears at 5.6 m. This cliff looks like the broad nose of a giant, the trees on its summit giving the appearance of a tangled mass of hair crowning a colossal head. The Appalachian Trail (see Tour 9) follows : the entire length of Saddle Ball and runs directly up the Nose to join Rockwell Rd. near the summit.
At 6.9 m. Rockwell Rd. is joined (L) by the New Ashford Rd., used chiefly in January, when Rockwell Rd. becomes impassable. At the junction is (L) the Site of Ash Fort (1765), said to have been built of ash logs as the original block-house, center of the first settlement of the town of New Ashford.
Rockwell Rd. crosses Mitchell Brook, which plunges down a deep gorge, and at 7.7 m. reaches a junction with Stony Ledge Rd.
Left on this road at 1 m. is (1937) a Civilian Conservation Corps camp and at 2.3 m. Stony Ledge. This ledge offers one of the most spectacular and beautiful sights in all New England. Below is the Hopper, a deep, wooded gulf in the center of Greylock's several peaks, resembling a giant grain hopper plugged at its outlet by Mt. Prospect. The Ledge looks down on the tops of trees that in autumn are ablaze with color. Beyond the Hopper the peaks of Mt. Fitch and Mt. Williams rear their heads.
At 8.6 m. is the Hopper Trail.
At 8.8 m., at the sharpest turn, the Appalachian Trail joins the route and follows it to the summit. At 9.3 m. the newly constructed Notch Rd., a ski run, enters from North Adams (see Tours 2 and 21).
At 9 m. are the Capes to the Berkshires Trail and the Cheshire Harbor Trail. At 9.9 m. the Bellows' Pipe Trail to North Adams is crossed, and just be- yond, the Thunderbolt Ski Run leaps the road and catapults into the valley 1800 feet below. This run, on the east slope of Greylock, is one of the steepest courses east of the Rocky Mountains, but skiers who pos- sess a moderate amount of skill need not fear it because its wide paths permit slowing movements. At the bottom of the drop the terrain opens up into about 200 acres of graded slopes giving opportunity for long slides.
Beyond the Thunderbolt, on the Summit (alt. 3505) is Bascom Lodge (open winter and summer), a rest-house of native stone and timber. From its piazza facing south, the view embraces the Berkshire Hills country for a distance of forty miles. Also on the summit is a Memorial Tower, 105 feet high, built of Quincy granite and dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of Massachusetts. From its top there is a magnificent view, extending as far as the White Mountains and New York Harbor.
TOUR 19 : From BOSTON to BOURNE, 55 m., State 28.
Via Milton, Braintree, Randolph, Holbrook, Avon, Brockton, West Bridge- water, Bridgewater, and Halifax.
N.Y., N.H. & H. R.R. services this area.
Hard-surfaced roadbed, heavy traffic during summer months.
SOUTH of the Blue Hills of Milton, State 28, one of the principal routes between Boston and Cape Cod, traverses a fairly level terrain.
South of its junction with US 1 (see Tour 1) in the Fenway in Boston, State 28 follows along the Arborway, lined with beautiful trees and estates. At 0.1 m. (R) is the Arnold Arboretum (see BOSTON).
State 28 bears right into Blue Hill Ave. at 2.6 m., while State 3 (see Tour 27) continues straight ahead.
At 3.9 m. on State 28 is the junction with State 138 (see Tour 25).
MILTON, 5.1 m. (town, alt. 24, pop. 18,147, sett. 1636, incorp. 1662), originally Uncataquisset (Indian 'Head of Tidewater'), was formerly in the town of Dorchester. Factories utilizing the power created by the Neponset River were early established here, making powder, chocolate, bass viols, artificial legs, pianos, drugs, medicines, and dyestuffs.
The Milton Library (open) a red-brick structure on the corner of Canton Ave. and State 28, houses the James Whitman collection of etchings by Millet, Rembrandt, and Whistler, and exhibits the paintings of local artists. It is the headquarters of the Milton Historical Society.
The Gulliver Elm, junction of Elm St. and Canton Ave., is said to have been deeded in 1823 by the First Congregational Parish in Milton to Isaac Gulliver, who gave bond for its perpetual protection.
On Centre St., between Vose Lane and Randolph Ave., is Milton Acad- emy, housed in several red-brick buildings. It was established in 1807, closed in 1866 when the first town high school was built, and reopened in 1885 as a private coeducational institution.
About 500 feet east of the academy on Centre St. is Milton Cemetery containing the Grave of Wendell Phillips.
I. Right from the Center 1.3 m. on Canton Ave., corner of Robbins St., 50 yards from the road, is the Manassah Tucker House (private). The original two-and-a- half-story, gray frame dwelling was built in 1707. The left half of the house was added later, bringing the end chimney to the center.
2. Left from the Center on Canton Ave. is MILTON LOWER MILLS, 1.2 m. (alt. 20; Town of Milton).
The Vose House (private), 38 Adams St., was built in 1773. Here delegates from Suffolk County on Sept. 9, 1774, adopted the Suffolk Resolutions drawn up at a preliminary meeting in Dedham (see DEDHAM).
Right from Milton Lower Mills, Adams St. climbs Milton Hill, the seat of Nane-
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From Boston to Bourne
pashemet, sachem of the Neponset tribe, and the site of the first white settlement. In the provincial period, it was the most pretentious residential section of the town.
At 215 Adams St. on the estate of Mary Bowditch Forbes is a Reproduction of the Cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was Born (open only Feb. 12, and May 30).
Adams St. continues to EAST MILTON 2.2 m. (alt. 60, Town of Milton). At the junction with Granite Ave. is (L) a stone commemorating the First Railroad Chartered in America. In 1826 the Granite Railway Company laid tracks from Quincy to the Neponset River in Milton to carry granite blocks for the Bunker Hill Monument from the quarries to the harbor. The motive power of the railroad was furnished by horses and oxen.
State 28 bears (R) into Randolph Ave. at 5.7 m. and at 5.9 m. passes the G. H. Bent Company's celebrated Water Cracker Factory (L), where it is claimed water crackers were first made (1801).
At 6.8 m. is the junction with Hillside St.
Right on Hillside St .; 1.1 m. (R) is the Barnard Capen House (private), 427 Hill- side St., erected in 1636, and said to be the second oldest farmhouse in New Eng- land. This white two-and-a-half-story salt-box house was in 1909 moved piece by piece to its present site from the corner of Melville Ave. and Washington St., Dorchester. The left half of the dwelling was added in the 18th century.
Five hundred feet west of the Barnard Capen House is a Bridle Path running along the southern slope of the hills of the Blue Hill Reservation.
At 9.7 m. is the junction with Pond St.
Left on Pond St. 1.3 m. to Great Pond, and a large boulder of pudding-stone known as Weeping Willow Rock, because of the pebbles that detach themselves and roll down its face. According to legend, Chicataubot, sachem of the Indians in this region, stood on this boulder and wept over his lost territories; since then the rock has shed sympathetic tears.
At 1.6 m. is the junction with State 128. Right (straight ahead) on this route by a side entrance to Blue Hill Cemetery, 1.9 m., where is a huge oak reputed to be more than 700 years old; its weakened branches, spreading 75 feet, are now arti- ficially supported.
BRAINTREE, 3.6 m. (town, alt. 94, pop. 17,122, sett. 1634, incorp. 1640), early known as Monoticut (Indian, 'Abundance') formerly included Quincy and Randolph.
In 1665, to clear its title, the town bought the land from the Indian chief Wam- patuck and his son, Chicataubot, paying £21, IOS .; fishing, and hunting rights were reserved by the sachem. Many followers of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson found temporary refuge here on their way from Boston.
Braintree was primarily agricultural until the middle of the last century when the railroad brought large industrial growth. Since 1910 the plants have become smaller and industries more diversified.
Here in 1920 occurred the hold-up and murder of a paymaster for which Sacco and Vanzetti were executed (see DEDHAM).
Thayer Academy (open), Washington St., was founded by General Sylvanus Thayer, superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point (1817- 33), a native who gave the town its public library.
Left 1 m. from the Center on Union St. is the Deacon Thayer House (now a tearoom). This one-and-a-half-story yellow frame dwelling, built in 1803, with gable roof and central chimney, has been remodeled but still retains some of its old lines.
At 10.2 m. (R) is the Boston School for the Deaf, founded in 1899. Here
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High Roads and Low Roads
nearly 200 children are cared for by the Sisters of St. Joseph, and taught lip reading and manual vocations. The surrounding 83-acre farm belongs to the school.
RANDOLPH, 11.7 m. (town, alt. 225, pop. 7580, sett. about 1710, incorp. 1793), originally called Cochato, was formerly the South Precinct of Braintree. It was named Randolph in honor of Peyton Randolph, first President of the Continental Congress.
Unable to compete with more fertile lands to the west, Randolph aban- doned agriculture to become, in the 19th century, a pioneer in shoe man- ufacturing, its factories attracting Irish, Italian, and Canadian immi- grants in great numbers. From 1860 to 1895 both shoe production and population decreased, and now the town is chiefly a residential suburb of Boston.
Mary Wilkins Freeman lived here, and in 'A New England Nun' and other works, told the stories of her neighbors.
The former Home of Jonathan B. Hall (private), built 1806, 0.5 m. north of the Town Hall, is now owned by the Ladies' Library Association; this organization, founded in 1855, is one of the oldest women's clubs in the State.
Left from Randolph on Union St. is HOLBROOK, 1.9 m. (town, alt. 200, pop. 3364, sett. 1710, incorp. 1872), originally in Randolph. Though one of the earliest towns to manufacture boots and shoes, it is now without a single shoe factory.
In Union Cemetery on Union St. are the graves of the early settlers; the stone on that of Levi Thayer (1765-1842) warns:
'Stop dear children and cast an eye. In these cold graves your parents lie. As you are now, so once was I; As I am now, so must you be. Prepare for death and follow me.'
The Thayer House (private), 56 Union St., the residence of Mrs. Maynard C. Thayer, contains many Colonial relics including a newspaper printed in Boston at the time of the Boston Massacre and containing a detailed account of this event and a newspaper printed the day after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
The Nathaniel Belcher House (private), 324 North Franklin St., built in 1754, is a broad gabled, two-story, white clapboarded dwelling with green blinds, and a small central chimney. The ell, added later, has a dormer window. The house sits back from the road on a knoll, with a solitary elm standing on the close-cropped lawn.
Left from the Square 0.5 m. on Plymouth St. to the junction with Pond St .; left here 1 m. on Pine St. to a State Forest Fire Tower on Turkey Hill (alt. 280), 1.2 m. (tables for picnicking), with an enclosed observatory offering a broad view of the countryside.
AVON, 13.9 m. (town, alt. 180, pop. 2362, sett. before 1700, incorp. 1888), was formerly part of the grant known as the 'land beyond the Blue Hills,' made to Dorchester in 1637. Its present name was suggested by the town schoolmaster to honor the Bard of Avon.
As East Stoughton, it was one of the earliest towns to begin the manu- facture of boots and shoes, an important product by the middle of the 19th century. Today, however, it is a residential suburb of Brockton, to
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From Boston to Bourne
which most of its factories were transferred because of Brockton's superior transportation facilities.
At 122 East Main St. (State 28) is the Blanchard House (private), about 200 years old, a white frame dwelling with pillared porch and large central chimney.
At 17.5 m. is BROCKTON (see BROCKTON).
WEST BRIDGEWATER, 21.9 m. (town, alt. 92, pop. 3356, sett. 1651, incorp. 1822), was deeded to six people in trust for 56 proprietors of the Duxbury plantation. In 1645 Massasoit gave up his claims to the land for $30 worth of knives, hatchets, skins, hoes, coats, and cotton.
Although a number of mills and factories were established along its rivers during the course of the 19th century, the town is predominantly agri- cultural, growing potatoes and the smaller garden crops, and specializing in dairying and poultry-raising.
On the banks of the Town River near the Green is the new Memorial Park on the site of an old gristmill and shovel factory. The water of the river has been diverted through the park in a series of waterfalls.
The Bridgewater Historical Society Museum (open), 162 Harvard St., has the Massasoit deed given to the purchasers of the Bridgewater settlement.
At 58 South St. is the Judge Baylies House (private), a large yellow two- and-a-half-story frame dwelling with two inner chimneys. Here William Cullen Bryant studied law in 1814.
BRIDGEWATER, 24.5 m. (town, alt. 62, pop. 9210, sett. 1650, in- corp. 1656), in the 18th century became one of the chief centers for iron manufacture. Many Revolutionary cannon were cast here, and, during the Civil War, some material for the 'Monitor.'
In the early part of the 19th century a young townsman, Eleazer Carver (b. 1785) set out for the Ohio River with a kit of millwright's tools; there he built a dugout and floated down the Ohio and Mississippi, stopping to do repair work at various plantations. On his return home in 1817 he established a factory to make cotton gins. Industry has attracted many Italians and Portuguese to the town, and the vineyards and bowling (bocce) alleys of the Italians are conspicuous. The Portuguese Holy Ghost festival, with colorful parades and feasting, held in July, is an annual event of local importance.
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