March 14, 2007 - Click here to review the nomination request
to place the
Old Town Hall on the National Register of Historic Places.
Click
here to see our Early Postcard Collection of the Town
The Town of West Stockbridge is in the western part of Berkshire
County,
a
hilly town with peaks ranging
from 500 to 900 feet above sea level. Its
principal stream is the
Williams
River and the valley of the Williams is
considered a very beautiful
part of the community. The town was owned
by the Stockbridge Indians
whose leader, the sachem Konkapot, in 1724 sold
a huge territory including
West Stockbridge and a half dozen more
communities to European
settlers.
The first colonist was Joseph Bryant from Canaan, Connecticut, who
settled
his homestead in 1766. There
were 40 families in town by 1774 when West
Stockbridge was incorporated.
The Congregational Church was organized in
1789 and its first building
was the first church structure in the town.
West Stockbridge men served
the French wars in Canada and one of them
escaped capture by the
Indians
only by hiding in a hollow log. The Indian
scouts trailing him decided
the log was empty when they saw a spider web
covering the mouth of the
log,
and Nathaniel Wilson got away to return home
and raise 21 children. David
Bradley served in the Revolutionary War for
17 years and came home safe
and sound to father 10 children in West
Stockbridge. George W.
Kniffen,
who was born in Rye, New York, also had an
interesting life. Having
moved
to Massachusetts, he was elected to the
legislature from Richmond in
1837 and 1848, and after moving again, he was
elected to the legislature
from West Stockbridge in 1857.
Unlike many of the towns in Colonial days, West Stockbridge did not rely
solely on agriculture as the
foundation for its economy. Its fortune was
under rather than on the
surface
and a number of quarries began operation
very early in the town's
history
to excavate the fine marble and iron ore
that were found in a couple
of locations. Much of the marble used to build
the State House in Boston,
the old City Hall in New York and Girard College
in Philadelphia, came from
the West Stockbridge quarries. In 1826, the
first of the iron mines was
opened in the town and eventually thousands of
tons of ore were mined. Other
industries in the 19th century included a
paper mill making manila
wrapping
paper, machine shop grist mill, iron
furnace and lime kilns. In
modern times, most industry has vanished and the
town hosts a summer resident
and visitor population and a mainly
residential character.
. 
(Narrative
compiled from historical materials)
Department
of Housing and Community Development
Mitt Romney,
Governor, Jane Wallis Gumble, Director