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BERKSHIRE
COUNTY, Massachusetts
History <->
Genealogy
*First created, in 1761, from Hampshire County.
*County
seat: Pittsfield.
Berkshire County is the western most
county in Massachusetts. It extends from north to south across
the western portion of Massachusetts, with the state of New York to
its west, the state of Vermont to the north, and the state of
Connecticut to the south.
*Cities, Towns &
Communities include: Adams, Alford,
Becket, Cheshire,
Clarksburg, Cummington,
Dalton, Egremont,
Florida, Great
Barrington, Hancock, Hinsdale,
Housatonic, Lanesborough,
Lee, Lenox, Monterey,
Mount Washington, New
Ashford, New Marlborough, North
Adams, Otis, Peru,
Pittsfield, Richmond,
Sandisfield, Savoy,
Sheffield, Stockbridge,
Tyringham, Washington,
West Stockbridge, Williamstown
and Windsor.
Select this LINK to see GENERAL Berkshire
County information and links.
Select from the TOWN
list above to view information and links specific to that community.
Please note: Though the information on this web page is believed to be correct, the possibility of error remains. Please notify the webmaster should an error be found.
Zoom and navigate through a Map of
Berkshire
County, Massachusetts
Surrounding
Counties
(North = Top)
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Vermont (Bennington County) |
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New York (Rensselaer County) |
Berkshire County, MA |
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Connecticut (Litchfield County) |
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A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts with Numerous Illustrations, by Rev. Elias Nason, M.A.; revised and enlarged by George J. Varney. Boston : B.B. Russell. 1890.
W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was born in Great Barrington, MA
Berkshire County Historical Society
708 Holmes Road - Pittsfield, MA 01201
Phone: (413) 442-1793 E-mail: info@berkshirehistory.org
The Berkshire Athenaeum - Pittsfield's Public Library
1 Wendell Avenue - Pittsfield, MA 01201
P. O. Box 1437 - Pittsfield, MA 01201
Online Index to Past Issues (from 1978) of The Berkshire Genealogist
History of Berkshire Boarding School, Sheffield, MA (from ca. 1906)
Berkshire County, MA 1790 Census, (in-progress) online by Ray Brown.
Berkshire Museum - Pittsfield - (art, natural science, and history). Route 7, 39 South Street - Downtown, Pittsfield, MA 01201 Phone: (413) 443-7171.
Hancock
Shaker Village - Pittsfield - an historic site where the
lives of the Shakers, who lived in the area from 1790 to 1960, are
interpreted.
P.O. Box 927, Pittsfield, MA
01202-0927 Phones: (413) 443-0188 & (800) 817-1137.
BerkshireNOW.com: "...Regional community web guide for Berkshires, Massachusetts covering the North Adams, Great Barrington, Pittsfield, Dalton, Lee, Lenox, Stockbridge, and West Stockbridge areas developed in partnership with The Berkshire Eagle, community organizations and local businesses..."
SEE The Berkshires at Berkshires.com: travel guide and online magazine.
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town.
Eminent
Berkshirites. site includes brief bio and attachment
to the Berkshires: John Alford, Dr. Amp, Susan B. Anthony, Colonel
John Ashley, Mum Bett, Josh Billings, Israel Bissell, William Cullen
Bryant, Joseph Hodges Choate, Silvio Conte, Zenas Crane, W.E.B.
DuBois, Jonathan Edwards, Cyrus Field, Giraud Foster, Joseph Franz,
Daniel Chester French, James A. Garfield, Arlo Guthrie, Nathaniel
Hawthorne, Jonathan Hinsdale, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Fanny Kemble,
John D. Kennedy, Henry Hudson Kitson, Chief Konkaput, Serge
Koussevitsky, Elder John LeLand, Herman Melville, Dexter G. Morrill,
Ichabod Parsons, John Parsons, Norman Rockwell, Shorty Rogers,
Catharine Sedgwick, Ted Shawn, John Sergeant, William Stanley,
Chief Umpachene, Stanford White, and Edith Wharton.
The
Berkshire County Clickable Map - each town site contains:
Historic Preservation Report.
FedStats by State for Massachusetts and Berkshire County Statistics
Use the query form, at USGS, to map features including cemeteries, churches, populated places, and more. Please note that the map town listed with a feature may be used as a map reference for the site, and may not be the town where the feature is actually located...Select a map to see the location of the actual feature. This database may not be complete, and, as with any database, there may be errors.
The Political Graveyard, for Berkshire County and/or Massachusetts, created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, a web site about U.S. political history, politicians, memorials and cemeteries.
Berkshire
County Probate Court Clerk
44 Bank Row -
Pittsfield, MA 01201.
Berkshire
Registry of Deeds (Middle District)
44 Bank Row - Pittsfield, MA 01201 Phone: (413)
443-7438
Records for the city of North Adams and the towns of
Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesborough, New
Ashford, Savoy, Williamstown and Windsor.
Berkshire
County Registry of Deeds (Northern District)
65 Park Street - Adams, MA 01220 Phone: (413)
743-0035
Records for the city of North Adams and the towns
of Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesborough, New
Ashford, Savoy, Williamstown and Windsor.
Berkshire
County Registry of Deeds (Southern District)
334 Main Street - Great Barrington, MA 01230
Phone: (413) 528-0146
Records for the towns of Alford, Egremont,
Great Barrington, Monterey, Mount Washington, New Marlborough,
Sandisfield, Sheffield and West Stockbridge.
Massachusetts Archives - Policies for Research by Mail - Fees and Procedures 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 Phone: (617) 727-2816.
Court Records Archivist (for MA Archives requests involving court records) Supreme Judicial Court Archives - 1300 New Court House - Boston, MA 02108.
DHCD: Adams Community Profile - East Hoosuck 1767; Adams incorporated in 1778
Adams, Massachusetts - includes a History of Adams from 1766, and an historic online tour.
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Adams, MA 01220; Susan B. Anthony Birthplace - Adams, MA.
DHCD: North Adams Community Profile - Incorporated in 1895
North Adams, MA town site.
North
Adams Public Library
74 Church Street -
North Adams, MA 01247 Phone: (413) 662-3133.
NorthAdams.com: Bytes from the Bean, by Joe Manning, a regular column about North Adams!
STEEPLES, a book by Joe Manning, "...is a collection of oral histories, photographs and poetry celebrating the beauty, the history, and the people from North Adams, Massachusetts..."
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. North Adams, MA 01247
Alford Community Profile Information and Links - Alford incorporated Feb'y 16, 1777
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Alford, MA 01230
Alford Free Public Library - Hours & Information 5 Alford Center Road - Alford, MA 01230-8920 Phone: (413) 528-4536
MA: Becket Community Information - New Plantation No. 4 incorporated in1765
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Becket, MA 01223
Becket Athenaeum, Inc. -
Hours
& Information Main Street - P.O. Box 9 - Becket,
MA 01223-0009
Phone: (413) 623-5483
E-mail: becket@cwmars.org
MA: Cheshire Community Information - Incorporated 14 March 1793
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Cheshire, MA 01225
MA: Clarksburg Community Information - Incorporated 2 March 1798
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Clarksburg, MA 01247
MA: Cummington Community Information - Incorporated 23 June 1779
MA: Dalton Community Information - Incorporated in 1784
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Dalton, MA 01226
MA: Egremont Community Information - Incorporated 23 August 1775
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Egremont, MA (North 01252) (South 01258)
MA: Florida Community Information - Incorporated 23 August 1775; .The first settler in Florida was Dr. Daniel Nelson from Stamford, Connecticut, who arrived in 1783, from Longmeadow and settled on a homestead on the Deerfield River...
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Florida, MA 01247
MA: Great Barrington Community Information - Founded in 1761
The
Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation
Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each
town. Great
Barrington, MA 01230
Housatonic
USGS Location for Housatonic Map
MA: Hancock Community Information - Plantation of Jericho; Hancock incorporated 2 July 1776
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Hancock, MA 01237
MA: Hinsdale Community Information - Incorporated in 1804 Parent towns: Partridgefield and Dalton.
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town.
Hinsdale, MA 01235
Discover Local History In The Epitaphs Of The Past: Graveyards in Hinsdale, Cheshire, Clarksburg and Stockbridge, MA.
MA: Lanesborough Community Information - New Framington 1742; Lanesborough incorporated 21 January 1765
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Lanesborough, MA 01237
MA: Lee Community Information- Incorporated 21 October 1777
The Town of Lee, MA with a Brief History of Lee from 1777.
MA: Lenox Community Information- Incorporated in 1767
The Town of Lenox, MA 01240 with a Brief History of Lenox and Historic Lenox Map.
MA: Monterey Community Information - Incorporated in 1847. Parent town: Tyringham. In 1735, "...Monterey was one of the two towns on the north of the trail and was the site of the original settlement of Tyringham of which it was then a part..."
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Monterey, MA 01245
MA: Mount Washington Community Information - Founded in 1779
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Mount Washington
MA: New Ashford Community Information - Settlers arrived in 1762; Town founded in 1781.
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. New Ashford, MA 01237
MA: New Marlborough Community Information - Incorporated in 1759
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. New Marlborough, MA 01230
MA: Otis Community Information- Incorporated 13 June 1810
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Otis, MA 01235
MA: Peru Community Information- Incorporated in 1771 as Partridgfield; Name was later changed to Peru.
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Peru, MA 01235
MA: Pittsfield Community Information - Town incorporated in 1761; City in 1891
Pittsfield, Massachusetts - includes Pittsfield History.
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Pittsfield, MA 01201
The Berkshire Athenaeum - Pittsfield's Public Library
1 Wendell Avenue - Pittsfield, MA 01201
MA: Richmond Community Information - Incorporated in 1765
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Richmond, MA 01254
The
Town of Ripton, MA - includes the Ripton Charter (1786).
DHCD: Sandisfield Community Profile - ( Plantation No. 3 ) Founded in 1762
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Sandisfield, MA 01255
DHCD: Savoy Community Profile - Incorporated in 1797; "... The first settlement of the town was made in 1777 by a Mr. Robinett and by the end of the Revolutionary War, 35 families lived in Savoy..."
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Savoy, MA 01256
MA: Sheffield Community Information - Incorporated 22 June 1733
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Sheffield, MA 01257
MA: Stockbridge Community Information - Chartered 7 May 1737. "...The town has grown from an Indian mission to a quiet village of wealth and gracious living to a resort town with the most famous Main Street in America as painted by Norman Rockwell..."
The Red Lion Inn - Stockbridge, MA - History from 1773.
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Stockbridge, MA 01262
MA: Tyringham Community Information - Incorporated in 1762 as Plantation No. 1; "...But the community is one of four whose history begins in 1735 when the Great and General Court voted to create townships to provide some protection for the wilderness trail that was at that time the main route between the lower Housatonic Valley and the Connecticut Valley and Boston..."
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Tyringham, MA 01264
MA: Washington Community Information - Founded in 1777 (Hartwood Plantation).
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Washington, MA 01223
MA:
West Stockbridge Community Information - Incorporated in
1774; "...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..."
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. West Stockbridge, MA
MA: Williamstown Community Profile - Incorporated in 1765
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Williamstown, MA 01267
MA: Windsor Community Profile - Founded in 1771 (Gageborough).
The Berkshire Web includes a brief Historic Preservation Report, community news, travel information, maps and more for each town. Windsor, MA
Additional Research Resources:
Massachusetts Citizen Information Service - maps and more.
Local Catholic Church History & Genealogy Research Guide & Worldwide Directory + Massachusetts* Page.
Massachusetts Fun Facts - Review of the History, Government, and Symbols of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Published by William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts Dept. of Housing and Community Development: Community Profiles.
Use the query form, at USGS, to map features including cemeteries, churches, populated places, and more. Please note that the map town listed with a feature may be used as a map reference for the site, and may not be the town where the feature is actually located...Select a map to see the location of the actual feature. This database may not be complete, and, as with any database, there may be errors.
The Political Graveyard, for Massachusetts, created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, a web site about U.S. political history, politicians and cemeteries.
Massachusetts Research Tools by Jeff Simonson.
From Revolution to Reconstruction - a Hypertext on American History.
o 1790-1890 Federal Population Censuses Catalog of NARA Microfilm
o 1930 Census Microfilm Locator
o Clues in Census Records, 1790-1840
o Clues in Census Records, 1850-1930
o Nonpopulation Census Records
o Prologue, Spring 1996, Vol. 28, No. 1, "First in the Path of the Firemen" The Fate of the 1890 Population Census, by Kellee Blake.
o Immigration Records and Naturalization Records
o "Any woman who is now or hereafter may be married... Women and Naturalization, ca. 1802-1940", by Marian L. Smith (Prologue, Summer 1998)
o By Way of Canada: U.S. Records of Immigration Across the U.S.-Canadian Border, 1895-1954, By Marian L. Smith (St. Albans Lists) (Fall 2000) — A guide to using immigration records of the U.S.-Canada border.
o Military Records available from the National Archives
o Military Service and Pension Records: Requesting Pre-WWI
Library of Congress: American Memory All Collections Search - enter topic or Massachusetts town and/or county location to find available online photos, maps, and more!
U.S. Census Bureau Interactive County Maps for Massachusetts.
Professional
Research
Ann
McRoden Mensch, Professional Historical Genealogist
Researching on-site, and with the vast resources of The Allen
County Public Library, holding one of the largest
genealogical collections in North America. Search the
Library's on-line catalogue to see some of the printed resources
available for a location or topic.
Printed resources for this page include:
School and Library Atlas of the World. Fred W. Foster, Ph.D. (Editor). Sycamore, Illinois: School and Library Publishing Company. 1982.
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Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000-2009, by Ann Mensch. All Rights Reserved.
