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Lenox,
noted as a select fashionable resort, is situated among the hills
of Berkshire County, directly west of Boston, and separated only
from the State of New York by the town of Richmond, which forms
its western boundary. The Richmond Station on the Boston and Albany
Railroad is the nearest to the chief village on the western side.
Through the eastern part north and south, along the Housatonic
River, runs the Housatonic Rail-road, connecting with the Boston
and Albany at Pittsfield (adjoining on the north) and with the
Fitchburg at North Adams, with the Harlem Railroad from New York
city on the west, and the Connecticut lines on the south. The
valleys of the Housatonic, of the Yokun Brook and other affluents,
form the eastern and most of the northern parts of the town. Roaring
Brook comes down from the Hoosac range, which occupies the town
of Washington on the east. At the middle of the western line rises
Lenox Mountain, a peak of the Taconic range, which borders the
town on the west, and covers the southwest with its broad hills.
At the eastern base of Lenox Mountain is a wild and deep gorge
called "The Gulf." The principal rock is Levis limestone,
Lauzon schist and the Potsdam group. Iron ore, brown hematite,
and gibbsite frequently occur. Limestone is here quarried for
building purposes, and also reduced in kilns to quicklime. The
soil, especially in the valleys of the larger streams, is very
fertile; and the hills themselves are beautiful with shrubbery
and magnificent forests. The extent of the latter in the town
is stated at 3,029 acres, the assessed area being 11,882. The
aggregate product of the 114 farms in the last census year was
$172,433. At Lenox Furnace, a village on the river and on the
railroad, in the southeast part of the town, are a furnace for
making pig-iron, and the glass works, celebrated for their fine
plate-glass. Other manufactures of Lenox are lumber, flour and
meal, paper, leather, and the others common to towns. The aggregate
value of the goods made in the last census year was $235,371.
The number of assessed dwelling-houses is 444. The valuation in
1888 was $2,389,780. The population in 1875 was 1,845; and in
1885, 2,154 with 443 legal voters. All the villages have post-offices.
There are nine public school-houses, valued at nearly $18,000
and a public library of some 7,000 volumes. The Lenox Academy,
in this place, was founded in 1803. The Congregationalists, Methodists,
American Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholics have church
edifices in one or another of the villages.
New
Lenox is a growing village on the river and railroad in the northeast
part of the town. The principal village is Lenox-on-the Heights,
a little south of the centre of the town, and two miles from the
railroad station at Lenox Furnace This town was formerly the county
seat, and in consequence became the residence of many persons
of superior family. Here dwelt Miss Elizabeth Sedgewick and here
Fanny Kemble took up her abode, living for twenty years (from
1850 to 1870) in the house she built and named "The Porch."
The place soon became a literary centre. William Cullen Bryant
had his home at Great Barrington; Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes was
a dweller in Pittsfield; our poet Longfellow and G. P. R. James,
the novelist, were spending their summers in Stockbridge, just
below the heights on the south; Henry Ward Beecher was writing
his "Star Papers" at the Rathbone Place; Herman Melville
was at Pittsfield, where he wrote his "Typee; " at the
same place often sojourned James Russell Lowell; Charlotte Cushman
gave her presence to both Lenox and Stockbridge; Nathaniel Hawthorne
wrote his "Scarlet Letter" at the little red house in
Lenox; and here in his last days came Dr. Channing. Thus haunted
by people of culture, and made familiar to people of eminence
and wealth through them, — with lofty altitude, smooth and
verdurous hills, and delicious air, it is no wonder that fashion
followed in the wake until it is the last to be missed in the
round of élite resorts. One of the most conspicuous objects
in the village is the fine old Congregational church which overlooks
it. Here, too, is the old court-house, transformed into the "Charles
Sedgewick Memorial Hall" and in its decrepitude sheltering
the public library, the ladies' club and an audience hall An elegant
new theatre was opened in September, 1889. Just southward from
the heights is a charming lake of some 250 acres, familiarly known
as "Stockbridge Basin," — the scene of many a quiet
sail or merry regatta. Away to the southeast, in the border of
Lee, is the race-ground of the Lenox Club. More constant than
any other entertainments are the balls and other social parties
in the roomy cottages of the summer sojourners.
This
town was formerly a part of Richmond, and was established as the
district of Lenox on February 26, 1767, and incorporated as the
town of Lenox by the general act of August 23, 1775; It is supposed
to have been named in honor of the Duke of Lenox, who also bore
the title of the Duke of Richmond. The ancient local name for
the place was Yokun, from a sachem who dwelt there; the name being
perpetuated by one of the principal streams. Jonathan Hinsdale
was the first white settler, and built a house here about 1750.
Others soon followed, but owing to fear of the Indians, all soon
removed to Stockbridge. Subsequently some families of better pluck
formed a permanent settlement in the place. The first church was
organized in 1769, and the Rev. Samuel Munsen was ordained pastor
November 8, 1770.
Nason
and Varney's Massachusetts Gazetteer, 1890, pp. 410-412
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