Berkshires towns homepages

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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By John Phelan – Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

The Berkshires town of West Stockbridge had an early history centered around the excavation of fine marble and iron ore. Much of the marble used to build the State House in Boston and the old City Hall in New York came from West Stockbridge quarries. Today, the town hosts a large summer resident and visitor population and is home to some of the more popular restaurants and art galleries in Berkshire county. Colonel Elijah Williams founded an ironworks in the Williamsville section of town; the furnace smokestack remains standing. (Photo credit:Wikipedia User:Faolin42)

West Stockbridge, MA facts:

• Town Hall: 9 Main St.
• Phone: (413) 232-0301
• Population: 1,416
• Settled/Inc’d: 1766
• Named for: neighboring Stockbridge
• Elevation: 744′
• Town website: weststockbridgetown.com

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The Berkshires town of Williamstown is the location of Williams College, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Williamstown is the fourth-largest town in Berkshire County; 2000 census data lists population of 8,424 and median household income of $51,875. The town, which borders Vermont and New York, was incorporated in 1765 as Williamstown after Ephraim Williams, who was killed in the French and Indian War. He bequeathed a significant sum to the town on the condition that it were named after him and started a free school. In 1791, the school opened, becoming Williams College in 1793.

In the late 1930s and 1940s, E. Parmelee Prentice and his wife Alta, the daughter of John D. Rockefeller, created Mount Hope Farm. With a mansion designed by James Gamble Rogers, it was one of the outstanding experimental farms in the country. Today, it belongs to Williams College.

Williamstown, MA at-a-glance:

• Town Hall: 31 North St.
• Phone: (413) 458-3500
• Population: 8,424
• Settled/Inc’d: 1749
• Named for: Ephraim Williams
• Elevation: 603′

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By John Phelan – Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

The Berkshires town of Windsor is a residential communities comprised of a few small farms and a hilltop general store that has been owned by the same family for several generations. Notchview Reservation, at over three thousand acres the largest of the 91 properties of The Trustees of Reservations, presents extensive terrain for cross-country skiing – twenty (more or less) miles of trails, most groomed, some tracked only by skiers who precede you; open field touring; unplowed town roads (beware of snowmobiles); and endless bushwhacking, the true cross-country.

Windsor, MA facts:

• Town Hall: 1927 Route 9
• Phone: (413) 684-3811
• Population: 875
• Settled/Inc’d: 1767
• Named for: Do you know?
• Elevation: 1,944′

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