Dave Read

Florida, Mass. is a small town in the Berkshires located along the Mohawk Trail high up in the foothills of the Green Mountain Range, is the site of one of the great engineering feats of the 19th century – the Hoosac Tunnel. The Florida section of the Deerfield River is very wide, from 25′ to 150′, and offers the best brown, rainbow, and brook trout fishing in the Berkshires.

“In 1805, when the town was incorporated, there was talk of the United States purchasing the territory of Florida from Spain. The new village among the mountains chose the name of the flat, tropical region of palms and pelicans. Perhaps an overdeveloped sense of humor on the part of the town fathers contributed to the extraordinary choice.” (The Berkshire Hills, by Federal Writers’ Project, © 1939, Berkshire Hills Conference, Inc.)

Florida, MA facts:

• Town Hall: 379 Mohawk Trail, Drury, MA 01343
• Phone: (413) 662-2448
• Population: 676
• Settled/Inc’d: 1783/1805
• Named for: Florida (see note below)
• Elevation: 2,180′
• Town website: townofflorida.org

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The town of Hancock in the Berkshires, was re-named for John Hancock in 1776, the year of its incorporation, from Plantation of Jericho, as it was called by the original settlers in 1762. Hancock Shaker Village was established there in 1790, becoming a thriving Shaker community before the movement’s mid-19th century demise. In 1960, the Hancock community was closed by the Shaker Central Ministry, and the next year Hancock Shaker Village, a non-profit museum was opened; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1968.

Points of interest in Hancock include: Hancock Shaker Village, Jiminy Peak, the state’s largest ski area, time-share mecca Vacation Village At Berkshires, a barn museum, a campground, a nudist camp, and twenty-four known and catalogued cemeteries.

Hancock, MA facts and map:

• Phone: (413) 738-5225
• Population: 721
• Settled/Inc’d: 1767/1776
• Named for: John Hancock
• Elevation: 1020′

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The Berkshires town of Hinsdale is a small, quiet hilltown with a population of over 1,900 that increases considerably in the summer months. Settled in the 1760s, Hinsdale was incorporated in 1804. Its early history saw farms and saw mills as the primary sources of occupation. In the late 1800s, textile mills flourished, and the community found itself able to install a reservoir and public water an sewer systems. In the early 1900s, the mills departed, and the railroad became the main industry. By the mid-1900s, this industry departed, as well. The Town is now primarily a bedroom community to the city of Pittsfield. (Photo credit:Wikipedia User:ToddC4176)

The Town encompasses approximately 21.7 square miles. It is home to two lakes, Lake Ashmere and Plunkett Lake, and to a section of Muddy Pond, the headwaters of the East Branch of the Housatonic River. Hinsdale also is home to the 14,500 acre Hinsdale Flats Watershed Resource Area, which is an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The Appalachian Trail, a national scenic trail, passes through Hinsdale, and encompasses 440 acres. There are over 1500 acres of state-owned open space within the Town’s borders, as well.

Hinsdale, MA facts:

• Town Hall: 95 Maple St.
• Phone: (413) 655-2245
• Population: 1,872
• Settled/Inc’d: 1763/1804
• Named for: Rev. Theodore Hinsdale
• Elevation: 1,431′

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“I was raised in Hinsdale in the 50’s and the 60’s. I’ve got a lot of good memories about Hinsdale. I lived above the drug store when Benard Collins was the Pharmacist. I would love some old and new photos. Thank you, Joseph Rock (djrock4@attbi.com).”

Photo credit: ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA

Lee, Mass was settled in 1760, as Dodgetown, then incorporated in 1777 as Lee. Formed from parts of Great Barrington and Washington, it was named after General Charles Lee. For a while, it looked like Prime Outlets would be a big deal, or destroy retail in downtown, but it’s been a wash – as Bezos/amazon has rendered mall and mainstreet retail practically obsolete.

The town was also famous for the quality of its marble, with the first quarry established in 1852. Almost 500,000 cubic feet of marble was excavated and shipped in 1867 on the Housatonic Railroad. Buildings constructed of Lee marble include a wing of the United States Capitol building and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Lee, MA facts and map:

• Town Hall: 32 Main St.
• Phone: (413) 243-2100
• Population: 5,985
• Settled by: Cape Cod natves and CT Yankees
• Settled/Incorporated: 1760/1777
• Elevation: 888′

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