Stockbridge, Massachusetts
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Stockbridge, Massachusetts | ||
---|---|---|
FIPS code 25-67595 | | |
GNIS feature ID | 0618274 | |
Website | www |
Stockbridge is a
History
Stockbridge was settled by British missionaries in 1734, who established it as a
First chartered as Indian Town in 1737, the village was incorporated on June 22, 1739 as Stockbridge. The missionaries named it after
With the arrival of the
Since 1853, Stockbridge has benefited from the presence of the Laurel Hill Association, a village beautification society. The Stockbridge Bowl Association maintains and preserves the natural beauty of Stockbridge Bowl and the surrounding Bullard Woods.
Stockbridge was the home of
In the
The town has a tradition as an art colony. The sculptor Daniel Chester French lived and worked at his home and studio called Chesterwood. Norman Rockwell painted many of his works in Stockbridge, which is now home to the Norman Rockwell Museum.
Geography and climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 23.7 sq mi (61.3 km2), of which 22.7 sq mi (58.9 km2) is land and 0.93 sq mi (2.4 km2), or 3.97%, is water.[3] Stockbridge is bordered by Richmond to the northwest, Lenox to the north and northeast, Lee to the east, Great Barrington to the south, and West Stockbridge to the west. The town is located 13.5 miles (21.7 km) south of Pittsfield, 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Albany, New York, 45 miles (72 km) west-northwest of Springfield, and 130 miles (210 km) west of Boston.
Set among the
The town is nearly bisected by Interstate 90, the Massachusetts Turnpike. There are exits in neighboring West Stockbridge and Lee. Several state routes, including Route 102, Route 183 and U.S. Route 7 all pass through town, with Routes 102 and 7 sharing a short stretch in downtown Stockbridge, and Routes 102 and 183 meeting in the village of Larrywaug. In this village are the Berkshire Botanical Gardens and the Norman Rockwell Museum. South of there, in the village of Glendale, Massachusetts lies Chesterwood.
The Housatonic Railroad, the main rail line between Pittsfield and Great Barrington, passes through the town and lies mostly on the southern bank of the river. (The rail line is used for freight; there is no passenger service.) The town lies along a Berkshire Regional Transit Authority (BRTA) bus line, which provides service between Pittsfield and Great Barrington. Pittsfield is also the site of the nearest regional bus service, as well as regional Amtrak service. There are local airports (for ptivate and charter planes) in Pittsfield and Great Barrington. The nearest national air service is located at Albany International Airport in New York.
Climate data for Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1981–2010 normals) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 32.5 (0.3) |
35.8 (2.1) |
45.1 (7.3) |
57.6 (14.2) |
69.6 (20.9) |
77.4 (25.2) |
81.3 (27.4) |
79.3 (26.3) |
71.2 (21.8) |
60.1 (15.6) |
48.4 (9.1) |
36.6 (2.6) |
57.9 (14.4) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 12.7 (−10.7) |
14.3 (−9.8) |
23.3 (−4.8) |
33.5 (0.8) |
43.4 (6.3) |
51.8 (11.0) |
56.9 (13.8) |
55.6 (13.1) |
47.6 (8.7) |
36.9 (2.7) |
29.5 (−1.4) |
18.9 (−7.3) |
35.4 (1.9) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.67 (93) |
2.87 (73) |
3.82 (97) |
3.71 (94) |
4.31 (109) |
4.02 (102) |
4.13 (105) |
4.56 (116) |
3.93 (100) |
3.99 (101) |
3.85 (98) |
3.74 (95) |
46.60 (1,184) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 16.2 (41) |
16.1 (41) |
11.4 (29) |
3.6 (9.1) |
.1 (0.25) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
4.7 (12) |
12.8 (33) |
64.9 (165) |
Average precipitation days | 10 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 127 |
Source: [4] |
Demographics
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1850 | 1,941 | — |
1860 | 2,136 | +10.0% |
1870 | 2,003 | −6.2% |
1880 | 2,357 | +17.7% |
1890 | 2,132 | −9.5% |
1900 | 2,081 | −2.4% |
1910 | 1,933 | −7.1% |
1920 | 1,764 | −8.7% |
1930 | 1,762 | −0.1% |
1940 | 1,815 | +3.0% |
1950 | 2,311 | +27.3% |
1960 | 2,161 | −6.5% |
1970 | 2,312 | +7.0% |
1980 | 2,328 | +0.7% |
1990 | 2,408 | +3.4% |
2000 | 2,276 | −5.5% |
2010 | 1,947 | −14.5% |
2020 | 2,018 | +3.6% |
2022* | 1,998 | −1.0% |
* = population estimate. Source: United States census records and Population Estimates Program data.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] |
As of the
There were 991 households, out of which 18.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. Of all households 36.7% were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.67.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 15.2% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 33.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $48,571, and the median income for a family was $59,556. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $27,969 for females. The
Government
Stockbridge is governed by
On the state level, Stockbridge is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by the Fourth Berkshire district, which covers southern Berkshire County, as well as the westernmost towns in Hampden County. In the Massachusetts Senate, the town is represented by the Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin district, which includes all of Berkshire County and western Hampshire and Franklin counties.[18] The town is patrolled by the First (Lee) Station of Barracks "B" of the Massachusetts State Police.[19]
On the national level, Stockbridge is represented in the United States House of Representatives as part of Massachusetts's 1st congressional district, and has been represented by Richard Neal of Springfield since January 2013. Massachusetts is currently represented in the United States Senate by senior Senator Elizabeth Warren and junior Senator Ed Markey.
Education
The first school in Stockbridge was opened in 1737 under the direction of
In the early and mid-1800s Stockbridge schools earned the distinction of educating three
Students from Stockbridge, its small villages of
The building of the former Stockbridge Plain School, completed in 1914, was shared by the elementary school and Williams High School, until the opening of
Today, Stockbridge, along with West Stockbridge and Great Barrington, remain members of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. All students in the district attend school in Great Barrington, with elementary students attending Muddy Brook Regional Elementary School, middle school students attending Monument Valley Regional Middle School, and high school students attending Monument Mountain Regional High School.[26] In addition to public schools, there are private and religious schools located in the neighboring towns.
The nearest community college is the South County branch of Berkshire Community College in Great Barrington. The nearest state college is Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, and the nearest state university is the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The nearest private college is Bard College at Simon's Rock, also in Great Barrington. Less than an hour's drive away, in Albany, New York, is a state university, University at Albany, SUNY, and also several private colleges.
Sites of interest
- Austen Riggs Center, psychiatric hospital
- Berkshire Botanical Garden
- Berkshire Theatre Festival, originally designed by Stanford White as a casino (1888)
- Chesterwood, home of Daniel Chester French
- Curtisville Historic District
- Dudley Field Memorial Tower (Children's Chimes Tower)
- Ice Glen
- Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health
- Merwin House (c. 1825)
- Mission House (c. 1739)
- National Shrine of The Divine Mercy
- Naumkeag Museum & Gardens (1886)
- Norman Rockwell Museum
- Oronoque (1887)
- Red Lion Inn
- Sedgwick Pie, unique family plot at the Stockbridge Cemetery
- Shadow Brook Farm Historic District, summer home of Andrew Carnegie
- Stockbridge Bowl, aka Lake Mahkeenac
- Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Notable people
- Kenny Aronoff, drummer
- Ezekiel Bacon, congressman
- John Bacon, congressman
- Barnabas Bidwell, congressman
- Henry Charles Brace, politician
- Alice Brock, artist
- Joseph Choate, ambassador
- Mabel Choate, preservationist
- Tara Conklin, writer
- Henry W. Dwight, congressman
- Joseph Dwight, 18th-century judge
- Jonathan Edwards, 18th-century theologian
- Erik Erikson, psychologist and author
- David Dudley Field I, clergyman
- David Dudley Field II, lawyer, law reformer, congressman
- Cyrus West Field, financier
- Henry Martyn Field, clergyman, author
- Stephen Johnson Field, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the U.S.
- Elizabeth Freeman (Mum Bett), freed slave
- Daniel Chester French, sculptor
- William Gibson, novelist, playwright
- Teddy Gross, playwright, co-founder of Common Cents & The Penny Harvest
- Arlo Guthrie, songwriter, singer
- Terence Hill, actor
- Agrippa Hull, free black Patriot
- Abby B. Hyde, hymnwriter
- Owen Johnson, writer
- Stanley Loomis, author of four books on French history
- Marcus P. Miller, United States Army brigadier general[27]
- Story Musgrave, physician, astronaut
- Reinhold Niebuhr, theologian
- William J. Obanhein, "Officer Obie"
- Albrecht Pagenstecher, paper industry pioneer
- Arthur Penn, movie and theatre director
- Benjamin Pond, congressman from New York (1811–1813)
- Norman Rockwell, artist
- Theodore Sedgwick, congressman
- George Seeley, photographer
- John Sergeant, missionary
- Gene Shalit, writer, film critic
- Gertrude Robinson Smith, arts patron, a founder of Tanglewood
- Joan Kennedy Taylor, writer, editor
- Allen T. Treadway, congressman
- Ephraim Williams, benefactor of Williams College
- Samuel Walter Woodward, department store founder
- Enoch Woodbridge, Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court[28]
In popular culture
Stockbridge was the location of Alice's Restaurant in the song of the same name by Arlo Guthrie which describes the town as having "three stop signs, two police officers, and one police car".[29] The site of the restaurant is marked on the street; the site of Alice's home is now the community Guthrie Center. A "red VW microbus"[29] is parked outside, and may be the original.
Stockbridge is mentioned in one verse of James Taylor's Sweet Baby James.[30]
The last movement of Charles Ives' "Three Places in New England" takes place on the Housatonic River in Stockbridge.
Prospect St, Stockbridge is the first overpass seen in the ending credits of Good Will Hunting.
References
- ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Stockbridge town, Berkshire County, Massachusetts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
- ^ Mumford, Warren. 2006. "The Pagenstecher family: from Rags to Riches," News from Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson. Accessed April 30, 2012.
- ^ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Stockbridge town, Berkshire County, Massachusetts". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
- ^ "Stockbridge, Massachusetts Travel Weather Averages (Weatherbase)". weather base.com.
- ^ "Total Population (P1), 2010 Census Summary File 1". American FactFinder, All County Subdivisions within Massachusetts. United States Census Bureau. 2010.
- ^ "Massachusetts by Place and County Subdivision - GCT-T1. Population Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1990 Census of Population, General Population Characteristics: Massachusetts" (PDF). US Census Bureau. December 1990. Table 76: General Characteristics of Persons, Households, and Families: 1990. 1990 CP-1-23. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1980 Census of the Population, Number of Inhabitants: Massachusetts" (PDF). US Census Bureau. December 1981. Table 4. Populations of County Subdivisions: 1960 to 1980. PC80-1-A23. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1950 Census of Population" (PDF). Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21-10 and 21-11, Massachusetts Table 6. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1930 to 1950. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1920 Census of Population" (PDF). Bureau of the Census. Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1890 Census of the Population" (PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1870 Census of the Population" (PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1872. Pages 217 through 220. Table IX. Population of Minor Civil Divisions, &c. Massachusetts. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1860 Census" (PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1864. Pages 220 through 226. State of Massachusetts Table No. 3. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "1850 Census" (PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1854. Pages 338 through 393. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "City and Town Population Totals: 2020−2022". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "Town Government". Town of Stockbridge, MA. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008.
- ^ "Senators and Representatives by City and Town". Mass.Gov. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
- ^ Station B-1, SP Lee
- ^ Loraine Anderson Devoe & Kathleen Wayne Oppermann (1984), Williams High School Alumni Association, History and Directory, 1872-1968, pg. 5, Retrieved September 5, 2015
- ^ Stephen Johnson Field, U.S. Supreme Court Justices, anb.org, Retrieved September 24, 2015
- ^ Forgotten Man in a Tumultuous Time: The Gilded Age as Seen by United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Henry Billings Brown, Michigan Journal of History, Retrieved September 24, 2015
- ^ David J. Brewer, Life of a Supreme Court Justice, 1837-1910, Retrieved September 24, 2015
- ^ Loraine Anderson Devoe & Kathleen Wayne Oppermann (1984), Williams High School Alumni Association, History and Directory, 1872-1968, pg. 16, Retrieved September 20, 2015
- ^ Loraine Anderson Devoe & Kathleen Wayne Oppermann (1984), Williams High School Alumni Association, History and Directory, 1872-1968, pgs. 15-16, Retrieved September 5, 2015
- ^ The Maroon Tribune, July 28, 2011 Retrieved September 15, 2013
- ^ Thayer, Bill (May 5, 2015). "Marcus P. Miller in Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volumes II-V". Bill Thayer's Web Site. Chicago, IL: Bill Thayer. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ Ullery, Jacob G. (1894). Men of Vermont Illustrated. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. p. 176.
- ^ a b Alice's Restaurant Lyrics Archived May 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ JAMES TAYLOR ~ Sweet Baby James ~.wmv, archived from the original on December 11, 2021, retrieved December 10, 2019