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TOWN
OF LANESBOROUGH, BERKSHIRE COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS
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| INCORPORATED
1765 |
Town
Hall
- 83 North Main Street - P.O. Box 1492
(413) 442-1167
Open - Monday thru Thursday - 8 AM - 1 PM
Monday Evening 7 PM - 9 PM
Annual Town Meeting - Second Monday in May
Selectmen's Meeting Dates, Time & Place
Monday Evening 7 PM - 9 PM
Town Hall - 83 North Main Street |
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Lanesborough
is
one of the most delightful towns in Berkshire County. Berkshire
village, in the southeast part of the town - its railroad station,
- is about 156 miles west of Boston by the Boston and Albany
and the Housatonic railroads. The other village, Lanesborough
(centre), is about two miles northwest, in the valley of the
Housatonic River. Both villages are post-offices. The town itself
lies near the centre of the northern half of the county. New
Ashford is on the north; Cheshire lies on the northeast - the
divisional line following a spur of the Hoosac Mountains in
a very zigzag course; on the east is Dalton, on the south Pittsfield,
and on the west Hancock. A spur of the Taconic range also marks
the boundary on this side. The town-ship is six miles long and
from three to six wide. The assessed area is 17,274 acres. This
includes 5,571 acres of forest, consisting of beech, maple,
ash and chestnut.
The Housatonic, flowing from the north through the midst of
the town, spreads out in the southerly part into Pontoosuc Lake,
a broad and beautiful sheet of water, well stocked with fish.
Savage Mountain, Farnum Hill and Constitution Hill are prominent
features of the scenery. From the latter eminence, near the
geographical centre of the town, may be seen a large section
of the Housatonic Valley and the chains of mountains which enclose
it. This town has extensive quarries of beautiful white marble,
which is sawn into blocks and slabs, then sent to various markets.
In the northern section are valuable beds of limestone, from
which builders' lime is made. In both the eastern and western
parts are beds of iron ore, which, reduced in the furnaces,
yields a superior quality of iron. At Berkshire village is an
extensive deposit of pure white sand, from which are made, in
the factories here, plate and cylinder glass of the best quality.
Among the curiosities of the town are a cave, some 10 or 15
rods in length, and the Rolling Rock, some 30 feet long, 15
feet wide and about the same in height, and so pivoted on another
rock about three feet from the ground that it can be easily
moved and still not overturned.
The soil, a mixture of clay and loam, is well adapted to grazing;
and large stocks of neat cattle and sheep are kept. Maple sugar
is made in large quantities, and tobacco has been found a profitable
crop. The value of the aggregate product of the 111 farms in
the last census year was $148,011. Besides those already mentioned,
there are several small manufactures common in towns; the aggregate
value of all in the same year being $254,634. The valuation
of the town in 1888 was $562,472, with a tax-rate of $13.33
on $1,000. There are 252 dwelling-houses taxed; and the population
is 1,212, including 268 legal voters.
Six school-houses, worth about $1,000, accommodate the schools.
There is a public library of some 1,200 volumes, and three Sunday-school
libraries. Two of the four church edifices are of brick, one
of stone and one of wood. The societies are Episcopal, Congregational,
Methodist and Baptist.
This place was at first called "New Framingham," because
a grant was made here in 1741 to Samuel Jackson and 75 other
persons of Framingham. Its settlement was commenced in 1754
by Capt. Samuel Martin and family. Nathaniel Williams, Samuel
Tyrrell, and others, afterwards joined him; and a fort was built
to protect them from the Indians. On seeing them approach one
day, the English fled to Pittsfield. It was voted March 31,
1762, that "Samuel Martin draw six pence on Each Lott,
for the yeuse of his hows for public worship.'' St. Luke's (Episcopal)
church was organized in October, 1767. The first rector was
the Rev. Gideon Bostwick. The society possesses a valuable glebe
and other funded property. The first church was formed here
March 28, 1764; and the Rev. Daniel Collins, ordained over it
April 17th of the same year, was the first minister. The town
was incorporated June 21, 1765, and received its name, it is
said, from James Lane, Viscount Lanesborough, in the peerage
of Ireland,
Henry W. Shaw ("Josh Billings"), a humorist and popular
lecturer, was born here in 1818. His "Allminax" obtained
a wide circulation. His father, Henry Shaw, was a member of
Congress.
pp. 401-402 in Nason and Varney's Massachusetts Gazetteer,
1890
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RESOURCE
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CONTRIBUTOR |
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Lanesborough
Vital Records from 1700 to 1842 were destroyed in a fire.
Some church records still exist. St. Luke's Episcopal Church
records are available. Courtesy of Claire Smith and Laurel
O'Donnell
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by
Frederick W. Bailey
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MARRIAGES
(to 1850)
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Lanesborough
Vital Records from 1700 to 1842 were destroyed in a fire.
Some church records still exist. St. Luke's Episcopal Church
records are available
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DEATHS
(to 1850)
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Lanesborough
Vital Records from 1700 to 1842 were destroyed in a fire.
Some church records still exist. St. Luke's Episcopal Church
records are available
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CEMETERIES
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Center Cemetery |
aka
Lower Cemetery, Transcribed by Dawn Newton Quinn |
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Lower
Cemetery |
See
Center Cemetery |
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Mountain
View Cemetery |
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North
Cemetery |
See
Talcott Cemetery |
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Pettibone
Cemetery |
Transcribed by Dawn Newton Quinn; Photos by Kelly Townsend |
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Riverside
Cemetery |
Managed
by St. Lukes Episcopal Church. Established 1875 |
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Saint
Lukes Episcopal Cemetery |
See
Riverside Cemetery |
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Talcott
Cemetery |
aka
North Cemetery, Transcribed by Dawn Newton Quinn; Photos
by Kelly Townsend |
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History
of Lanesborough in the Gazetteer of Berkshire County, Mass.
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Typed
for the web by Dawn M. Quinn
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A
History of the Town of Lanesborough, by Rev. Henry B. Hooker
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Transcribed
by Dawn Newton Quinn
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MAPS
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from
"County Atlas of Berkshire, Massachusetts. From actual survey
by and under the Direction of F. W. Beers, Published by
R. T. White & Co., 36 Vesey Street, New York, 1876." Some
maps have names of residents. The maps of Lanesborough
and the community of Berkshire in Lanesborough are
available for viewing.
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MILITARY
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Resource
Needed!
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