With many thanks to Cornelia Gilder for this wonderful write up of 17 West Street. Cozy Nook Built Civil War Era With its…
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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…
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…
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…
Judge Bishop House – Gone But Not Forgotten Corner of West and Main. Cozynook Cozynook was built for George Tucker in 1865. This charming house…
Cliffwood has so many lovely homes today that they could all be considered estates in modern terms. For the sake of manageability, this enumeration is limited to those that have…
A plaque across from Hawthorne Street celebrates the location of the first settler of Lenox – Jonathan Hinsdale. It was, for a long time, the primary north-south route to Stockbridge…
Windyside Windyside (111 Yokun) was built by Boston physician Richard Cranch Greenleaf (1845-1913) and his wife Adeline Emma Stone (1849- 1936). It is notable as one of the few stick…
*The Bishop Guest Houses Thirty five and forty five Walker were built as “overflow” guest houses for the Bishop family Thirty Five, called the Henry W. Bishop House was built…
Frelinghuysen Cottage Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, who served as Secretary of State under Chester A. Arthur, and his wife Martha Griswold Frelinghuysen built this house in 1888 (some sources say 1881)…
Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe Henry Ward Beecher became minister of Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn (shown here with his equally famous sister Harriet Beecher Stowe) in 1847....
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The Lenox Academy The lovely Federalist Academy building (still standing on Main Street) attracted well educated Lenox residents and visitors who would set a tone for future centuries. Although…
By the turn of the 20th century, the episcopal church in Lenox had added four grand looking gilded age buildings to Lenox: church, chapel, and rectory in Lenox village and St….
Started in 1805 and dedicated January 1806, the Church on the Hill remains one of the loveliest buildings in Lenox. Information on the architecture and the nearby burying ground and…
Lenox Becomes the County Seat in 1782 In November of 1782* the Massachusetts state Legislature appointed a committee of three men to visit Berkshire County and pick a location more…
The Lenox Easter Fire The Easter Fire on Lenox Main Street on April 11, 1909 changed the face of Lenox Main Street and cost six people their lives. The area…
As we approach the annual town meeting it’s interesting to see what constituted important Lenox town business in the late nineteenth, early 20th century. Pauper Costs One issue we’re…
Started as a Stagecoach Stop Since the earliest days of the county Lenox’s Main St. has been a path-road-highway from the southern entrance to the county to Pittsfield. The site…
We continue to follow Oliver Osborne’s journal – picking up from January 1861. Here are some comments on the remainder of 1861 -it was a momentous year for the world…
Lenox Water System – Meeting Challenges The clear, drinkable water we get from our taps is easy to take for granted. Lenox is fortunate to live in a region with…
Now gone – structure on southwest corner of Housatonic and Church and on northeast corner. What’s the same? Former Episcopal Church on the left (27 Church) Edge of former Methodist Church…
Oliver Webster Osborn (1823-1895) is very fondly remembered by Lenox historians because he compiled “The East Street Book.” Oliver hand wrote this wonderful description of East Street families as of…
Grenville LIndall Winthrop built Groton Place in 1905 as a summer home. It encompassed the stone villa on this site from 1858 (The Elms). The new Carrera & Hastings designed…
With its emphasis on experiential learning and letting the learner define the pace and structure of learning, progressive education techniques were/are particularly appropriate for young people who had trouble learning…
www.lenoxhistory.org We’re looking for volunteers for whatever you would like to contribute to our Lenox History collection. Here are some ideas that have been suggested: Great fires of Lenox The…
Church on the Hill Burying Ground Lenox received three acres for a burying ground in 1770 and the first burial took place the following year. The Church on the Hill…
Lenox Village When Lenox was founded in 1767 most residents would have been farmers – even if lawyering, tavern owning, shoemaking, etc. formed part of the support for themselves and…
An excellent example of the immigrants who came to work on the estates – and whose descendants populate modern Lenox. L.C. Peters, one of 10 children, left Kent, England in…
Belvoir Terrace was designed by Rotch & Tilden and built between 1888-1890 for Morris K. Jesup, with landscaping by Frederick Law Olmstead. John Shepherd purchased the estate in the early…
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: This Colonial Revival style building has two stories, an asphalt shingle roof and has been altered. It now has…
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: This is a 2-story, wood-framed house with wood clapboard and shingle siding prominently sited atop a hillock. It displays…
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: This house displays a transitional architectural style from Gothic Revival to Queen Anne. The wood-framed building originally had an…