Ideas: Local History 1753 House
Ideas: Local History Williamstown Historical Museum
Ideas: Local History Williams College West
Ideas: Local History Vermont

For hundreds of years people have travelled here between the Hudson and Connecticut Rivers. The Northern Berkshires have grown at a crossroads, near cultural centers and yet independent. Our local history is steeped in courage, invention and endurance.

Bascom Lodge at the top of Mount Greylock and historic landmarks along the Mohawk Trail look to the American Indians who named the lakes and rivers and still visit to care for the mountains.
Equality has taken root here — Hancock Shaker Village, the Quaker Meetinghouse in Adams, and local historical museums hold stories of the Underground Railroad, suffragists, religious freedom and Civil Rights.
As the railroad linked the mountains to New York and Boston, industry and the Gilded Age reshaped the landscape. The mills and mansions of our region still show their influence.

Local History

Bennington Battle Monument

A tribute to the Green Mountain Boys who fought in the 1777 Battle of Bennington.

Bennington Museum

Downtown Bennington

Historical novelties, self-taught and regional artists, and the largest public collection of Grandma Moses paintings.

Chesterwood

The country home, studio and gardens of America’s foremost public sculptor, Daniel Chester French.

Crane Museum of Papermaking

Explore the history of the oldest paper company in American from 1770 to today.

Hancock Shaker Village

Pittsfield, MA

Tour the buildings, farm and gardens, meet baby animals in the spring, and savor the harvest in the fall.

Herman Melville Memorial Room at the Berkshire Athenaeum

Established in 1953, this is the national center for Herman Melville studies.

Herman Melville’s Arrowhead

Herman Melville lived at his Pittsfield farm at Arrowhead was the from 1850 to 1863, while he wrote Moby-Dick. is the first National Historic Landmark to be designated in Berkshire County.

Hildene

The Lincoln Family Home in Manhester, VT.

Notes About Home

Hancock Shaker Village

The exhibit is a dynamic collage of photographs, newspaper articles, posters, blueprints, oral histories, and videos about Hancock Shaker Village past, present, and future.

Robert Frost Stone House Museum

1920s home of the American poet.

Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum

Susan B. Anthony’s birthplace and museum.

Thunderbolt Ski Museum

Downtown Adams

The history of the Thunderbolt trail features exhibitions and memorabilia.

Western Gateway Heritage State Park

Downtown North Adams

This urban park uses historical artifacts to bring to life the controversial and danger-filled construction of the Hoosac Tunnel.

Williamstown Historical Museum

South Williamstown

A research center dedicated the history of the most northwestern township of Massachusetts.

Williamstown History Walk

Williamstown

Explore the history of Williamstown on this walking tour of Central Williamstown.