The 1893 Romanesque Revival chapel was designed by Pittsfield architect, Charles T. Rathburn. It was donated by John Parson in honor of his daughter Helena (1867-1892) who had died…
Designed by Pittsfield architect, Wilson Eyre, Thomas Shields Clark completed his Lenox estate, Fernbrook in 1904. Featured in the 1909 House Beautiful, Clark’s Lenox estate and studio was considered the…
For over a century, the traveler on the road from Lenox to Pittsfield would be impressed by a series of fine brick Federal style houses. North of the…
Col. Richard T. Auchmuty (1831-1893), architect and owner of the Dormers, had a distinguished heritage. His great grandfather was rector of New York’s Trinity Church in 1763. He joined the…
R.T. Auchmuty served in the Civil War and built the dormers in 1868 after marrying Lenox heiress, Ellen Schermerhorn. Col. Auchmuty was a major contributor to civic life in Lenox…
In 1929, the Roadside Committee of the Lenox Garden Club purchased the Powers and Crockett Farms at 472 West Mountain Road. With that purchase they created the 300 acre Pleasant…
The exterior of the current Arcadia Shop, 91 Pittsfield Road, was built by Thomas Steel in 1759. We don’t know where he was born but his son, Thomas Steel, Junior,…
In 1889 Edward Livingston and his wife Sarah Pollack Livingston hired revered architect George Thomas Tilden (1845-1919) to build their beautiful Cliffwood Street mansion – Osceola. (some sources report the build…
Much of the area north of the village of Lenox was part of the Quincy Grant. Well before Lenox became a town (1767) the royal governor granted land in return…
“ For three weeks I drove every day 7 miles and back through a lovely hill country in richest livery of summer.” …..From “Central Berkshires” by George Blatchford (Thank you…
The 28th “new” Lenox Tub Parade made its annual appearance this September. The “new” tub parade has now appeared longer…
Update: Unfortunately demolished fall 2019 The origins of the name Brushwood Farms is still being investigated. The historic house was at 36 Pittsfield Road (Route 7 & 20)is better described…
Mass 54th African Americans Soldiers The Mass 54th was the first unit of African American soldiers to be raised in the North during the Civil War. Massachusetts did not have…
With many thanks to Cornelia Gilder for this wonderful write up of 17 West Street. Cozy Nook Built Civil War Era With its…
Wells Colton Cabinet at Lenox Historical Society Thanks to Victoria Salvatore and the Lenox Historical Society for this information. The cabinet is a…
Lenox native James Van Der Zee (1886-1983), was an African-American photographer whose studio portraits and other photographs document the lives of middle-class African-Americans. He gained fame for his photographs taken…
The private school era in Lenox goes on in various forms, but the private boarding school era largely came to an end in the 1970’s. The rise and fall of…
Western Massachusetts was ground zero for Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1788). Lenox people and institutions were part of the action. Not Just Shays; Not Revolution The way most of us heard it,…
The current beautiful Church on the Hill building was dedicated in 1806, replacing an earlier meeting house. In 1906 a centennial celebration was held and the Hon. Francis W. Rockwell…
The First Trinity Church By 1818 the Lenox Anglican community had finally amassed the funds to complete its first church. It was in the center of the village at 33…
Challenges of Early Industry in Lenox The challenges of early rural industry are illustrated by the number of failed attempts to get a working operation going in Lenox Dale (then…
Water Power Key to Glass Making The water power of the Housatonic had already been put to work in Lenox Furnace to drive a sawmill, gristmill, fulling mill and iron…
The Gilded Age Repurposed for Jazz The Countess de Heredia died in 1946 and in 1947 the magnificent mansion, Wheatleigh, that her father constructed in 1895 plus 25 acres was sold…
Tanglewood History Begins at the Hanna Farm Despite the dark days of the Depression, conductor-composer Henry Hadley worked with Gertrude Robinson Smith and others to put together the first Berkshire…
Today the Tanglewood Music Festival attracts 350,000 visitors a year. Although it is on the border with Stockbridge, it is a major contributor to the Lenox tourist industry as well…
The summer of 1934 is celebrated as laying the groundwork Tanglewood (even though it was a different orchestra in a different place), but the story really begins earlier. To get…
MacDonald Farm/ Twin Maples/ Cornell Inn The Cornell house was built in 1888 by the Cornell family, having purchased the property from the MacDonalds, next door. For most of its…
From Little Women to Downton Abbey In the 19th and early 20th century, Lenox evolved from farm community and county seat to a resort for the ultra wealthy. In the…
Fernbrook Fernbrook was constructed in 1904 for Thomas Shields and Adelaide Knox Clarke. On West Mountain Road it stands today as Hillcrest School. Valleyhead Valleyhead was built…
Many of the historic houses of Hawthorne Street are actually in Stockbridge – but they’re often associated with Lenox. Hawthorne Street as we know it did not exist at the…
The Sedgwicks of Lenox set a flavor for 19th century Lenox that lingers to this day, so it is worth reviewing who they were and why they had the influence…