Stockbridge, Massachusetts
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| Stockbridge, Massachusetts | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Berkshire |
| Settled | 1734 |
| Incorporated | 1739 |
| Government | |
| - Type | Open town meeting |
| Area | |
| - Total | 23.7 sq mi (61.4 km²) |
| - Land | 22.9 sq mi (59.4 km²) |
| - Water | 0.8 sq mi (2.0 km²) |
| Elevation | 842 ft (257 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 2,276 |
| - Density | 99.2/sq mi (38.3/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 01262 |
| Area code(s) | 413 |
| FIPS code | 25-67595 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0618274 |
| Website: http://www.townofstockbridge.com/ | |
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,276 at the 2000 census. A year round resort area, Stockbridge is home to the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Austen Riggs Center (a noted psychiatric treatment center), and Chesterwood, home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French.
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[edit] History
Stockbridge was first settled in 1734 as a mission for the Mahican Indian tribe known as the Stockbridge Indians. The township was set aside for the tribe as a reward for their assistance against the French in the French and Indian Wars. The Reverend John Sergeant from Newark, New Jersey was their missionary. First chartered as Indian Town in 1737, it was officially incorporated on June 22, 1739 as Stockbridge, named after Stockbridge in Hampshire, England.
Although the Massachusetts General Court made an assurance that the Indians' land could never be sold, it was rescinded. Despite their further help during the Revolutionary War, the tribe was relocated first to New York State, then to Wisconsin. The village was taken over by English settlers. With the arrival of the railroad in 1850, Stockbridge developed as a summer resort for the wealthy. Many large houses called Berkshire Cottages were built in the area before World War I and the advent of income tax. One estate on the Lenox border, Tanglewood, is today the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Stockbridge was also the home to Elizabeth Freeman, late in her life. The former slave who was one of the petitioners in the lawsuit that had slavery declared unconstitutional in Massachusetts, Freeman worked in the household of the Massachusetts statesman Judge Theodore Sedgwick. She is buried in Stockbridge's downtown cemetery.
Famed 19th century literary figure, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, was born in Stockbridge in 1789. She is the author of six novels including her most famous, Hope Leslie (1827). The town has a tradition as an art colony. Sculptor Daniel Chester French lived and worked at his home and studio called Chesterwood. Norman Rockwell painted many of his works in Stockbridge, home to the Norman Rockwell Museum.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 23.7 square miles (61.4 km²), of which, 22.9 square miles (59.4 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.0 km²) of it (3.25%) is water. Set among the Berkshire Mountains, Stockbridge is drained by the Housatonic River.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 2,276 people, 991 households, and 567 families residing in the town. The population density was 99.2 people per square mile (38.3/km²). There were 1,571 housing units at an average density of 68.5/sq mi (26.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.92% White, 1.23% African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.97% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.90% of the population.
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. 36.7% of all households 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 per capita income for the town was $32,499. About 1.7% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
Stockbridge is governed by open town meeting, held annually on the third Monday in May, and by an elected three-member Board of Selectmen. [1]
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[edit] Education
The former Stockbridge Plain School was at one time a high school. It then became an elementary school for the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. Now the building is being renovated to become the new town offices.
[edit] Sites of interest
- Berkshire Botanical Garden
- Chesterwood, home of Daniel Chester French
- Dudley Field Memorial Tower (Children's Chimes Tower)
- Merwin House (c. 1825)
- Mission House (c. 1739)
- Naumkeag Museum & Gardens (1886)
- Norman Rockwell Museum
- Austen Riggs Center, psychiatric hospital
- Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
[edit] Notable residents
- Ezekiel Bacon, congressman
- John Bacon, congressman
- Mum Bett (Elizabeth Freeman), freed slave
- Barnabas Bidwell, congressman
- Joseph Choate, ambassador
- Henry W. Dwight, congressman
- Jonathan Edwards, theologian
- Cyrus West Field, financier
- Daniel Chester French, sculptor
- William Gibson, novelist & playwright
- Arlo Guthrie, songwriter & singer
- Owen Johnson, writer
- Story Musgrave, physician & astronaut
- William J. Obanhein, "Officer Obie"
- Norman Rockwell, artist
- Theodore Sedgwick, congressman
- Gene Shalit, writer & film critic
- James Taylor, musician
- Allen T. Treadway, congressman
- Ephraim Williams, benefactor of Williams College
- Erik Erikson, psychologist & author
[edit] Stockbridge in popular culture
- Inspired by the river during his honeymoon, the American classical music composer Charles Ives wrote The Housatonic at Stockbridge as part of his composition Three Places in New England.
- The town is mentioned in the James Taylor song, "Sweet Baby James." ("The first of December was covered with snow, and so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston").
- Stockbridge was the location of Alice's Restaurant in the song of the same name by Arlo Guthrie.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts
- The Norman Rockwell Museum
- Press release -- US Department of Interior, April 4, 2007: "Interior Secretary Kempthorne Designates 12 National Historic Landmarks"
