• Pages

    • Berkshires Regional Histories

     

     

    Read about the history of Sheffield, Great Barrington, Route 7 to Pittsfield, and much, much more.

    We also stock a complete line of local and regional historical books on Berkshire towns including: Stockbridge, West Stockbridge and Lenox; Sheffield, Great Barrington, Monterey and Otis, MA;The Hudson Valley, the Catskills and the Adirondacks

     
    is a part of
    African American Heritage
    edited by David Levinson
    This history and guide tells fascinating and important stories about Berkshire life usually overlooked in history books and tourist publications. It profiles the many nationally prominent African American men and women who called the Berkshires home, such as Great Barrington's very own W.E.B. Du Bois, a founder of the NAACP.
     
     
    George M. Gibson hammered together a wooden pavilion at the foot of the hill on his Hartsville farm in 1875, so picnickers visiting the pine glade at the south end of Lake Buel would have shelter if it rained. He docked an excursion steamboat at Gibson's Grove the next year, in time for a gala celebration of the nation's centennial. He sold candy and cigars and booked musicians and speakers. He leased cottages along the shore. The lake's popularity exploded.
     
    Sewing Circles, Dime Suppers, and W. E. B. Du Bois is the often heroic tale of a small group of African Americans who founded and have maintained their church in a small new England town for nearly 140 years. The church is the Clinton African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and the town is Great Barrington, MA, the home town of the leading African American scholar and abolitionist W. E. B. Du Bois.
     
     
    A Life of John Konkapot
    by Lion G. Miles
    John Konkapot: The Mohican chief who sold his Berkshire hunting grounds to Puritan settlers, hoping that their faith and example would benefit his people.
     
     
    History of Great Barrington offers a comprehensive microhistory of the Berkshire County community as seen through the eyes of an astute businessman. Taylor pays close attention to land development, property ownership, the evolution of business and industry, schools, and community organizations. His account does not neglect "big history," either: its chapters on the Revolutionary War period, Shays' Rebellion, and the Civil War detail Great Barrington's involvement in these sweeping historical events.
     
    This historic reprint is a blow-by-blow description of all the events that lead up to the famous Shay's rebellion in Sheffield, MA during the Revolutionary War.
     
     
    A Portrait of the Northern Berkshires
    by Kelly Lee & Eric Rudd
    With the dramatic rebirth of North Adams as a world-class arts destination and the growing importance of the region as a cultural powerhouse, Kelly Lee's beautiful photography showcases both the main attractions and the hidden gems. Included is a special behind-the-scenes look at artist lofts and art spaces – with words from the artists themselves. Eric Rudd writes a short history and insight about the many joys of visiting and living here.