Berkshire County is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in 1761.
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is home to the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Austen Riggs Center, and Chesterwood, home and studio of sculptor Daniel Chester French.
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, a ski resort, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van Deusenville and Housatonic. It is the birthplace of the writer and activist W. E. B. Du Bois. In 2012, Smithsonian magazine ranked Great Barrington No. 1 in its list of "The 20 Best Small Towns in America".
Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Set in Western Massachusetts, it is part of the Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,025 at the 2010 census. Lenox is the site of Shakespeare & Company and Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Lenox includes the villages of New Lenox and Lenoxdale, and is a tourist destination during the summer.
Morris Ketchum Jesup, was an American banker and philanthropist. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural History.
The Mount (1902) is a country house in Lenox, Massachusetts, the home of noted American author Edith Wharton, who designed the house and its grounds and considered it her "first real home." The estate, located in The Berkshires, is open to the public. The property was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.
The Berkshire Eagle is an American daily newspaper published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and covering all of Berkshire County, as well as four New York communities near Pittsfield. It is considered a newspaper of record for Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
Rotch & Tilden was an American architectural firm active in Boston, Massachusetts from 1880 through 1895.
Elm Court is a former Vanderbilt mansion located on Old Stockbridge Road, straddling the town line between Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and until July 2012 was owned and operated as a hotel by descendants of the original owners.
America's Gilded Age, the post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction era, from 1865 to 1901 saw unprecedented economic and industrial prosperity. As a result of this prosperity, the nation's wealthiest families were able to construct monumental estates in Newport, Rhode Island, Bar Harbor, Maine and The Berkshires in Massachusetts.
The Lenox Library is the principal public library of Lenox, Massachusetts. It is managed by the non-profit Lenox Library Association, founded in 1856, and is located at 18 Main Street, in a former county courthouse that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Yokun Ridge is a ridge in the Taconic Mountains in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, consisting of a well-defined series of contiguous peaks including West Stockbridge Mountain and Lenox Mountain. The name "Yokun Ridge" was invented for the area in 1971 by a land conservation and environmental advocacy organization called the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, and was accepted in 2009 by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Yokun Ridge is 9 miles (14 km) long and contains a conservation planning area called the Stockbridge-Yokun Ridge Reserve designated in 1993 by the U.S. Forest Service under its Forest Legacy Program. The ridge is notable for outdoor recreation and scenic beauty, as well as its conserved land and proximity to the tourist destinations of Lenox and Stockbridge. Yokun Ridge is located within West Stockbridge, Stockbridge, Lenox, Richmond, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Approximately one-third of the ridge is protected as open space reserve, municipal watershed, and wildlife sanctuary.
H. (Henry) Neill Wilson was an architect with his father James Keys Wilson in Cincinnati, Ohio; on his own in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and for most of his career in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The buildings he designed include the Rookwood Pottery building in Ohio and several massive summer cottages in Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
The Big Up Festival was a three-day festival that consisted of music, arts, and culture. The festival took place at Sunnyview Farm in Ghent, New York that bring together musical entertainment, interactive art, and sustainable initiatives. Organized by Shireworks Productions, The Big Up had its roots in music events and festivals as well as an underlying theme of environmental awareness.
ZenQuest Martial Arts Center, formerly called the Okinawan Karate School, is a martial arts school located in Lenox, Massachusetts. The oldest martial arts school in Berkshire County, it was founded in 1972 as a dojo for Uechi-ryu karate. The school since expanded to include other martial arts, and currently provides instruction in Shohei-ryu karate, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling, kobudo, and self-defense, and is the fastest growing martial arts community in Berkshire County. The school also contains a store which provides equipment, gear, and instructional media. It is affiliated with the Okinawan Karatedo Association, Demian Maia Jiu-Jitsu Association, and Team Sityodtong Boston, and is accredited by the North American Grappling Association. ZenQuest has received significant coverage by regional and local media in Berkshire County, including The Berkshire Eagle, Berkshires' Best Buys, Business, and Beyond, and Pittsfield Cable Television, for its regular youth tournaments and seminars with high-ranking officials from the school's parent organizations.
Pittsfield High School is a four year comprehensive public high school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States. The school dates its founding to 1844. It is administered by the Pittsfield Public Schools district and is the oldest of the district's two high schools. Enrollment for the 2014-2015 school year included 916 students. 51% of the student population was female and 49% were male. Students of African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Multi-Race, Non-Hispanic ethnicity and heritage comprised 21.8% percent of the student population.
George Lovett Kingsland Morris was an American artist, writer, and editor who advocated for an "American abstract art" during the 1930s and 1940s, and is best known for his Cubist sculptures and paintings.
The Frelinghuysen Morris House and Studio is a historic house museum and former art studio in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The house and studio were home to American Abstract Artists George L.K. Morris and Suzy Frelinghuysen. The studio was built in Bauhaus style in 1930 by Morris and his friend George Sanderson. The house was added in 1941, designed by John Butler Swann. The house and studio were entered onto the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Joseph McArthur Vance was a prominent architect in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His portfolio comprised residential, commercial, industrial and recreational buildings. Much of his work was centered in Pittsfield, then a thriving commercial, industrial and resort city, but he was also commissioned by clients elsewhere in Berkshire County. He also pursued projects in neighboring states. Among the buildings he designed are the Colonial Theatre, the Allen Hotel - originally the Park Hotel - (1915), and the Frank Howard Building (1916) - all in Pittsfield; Bascom Lodge (1932-1937) atop Mount Greylock, the state's highest peak; and the Hotel Aspinwall in Lenox, Massachusetts (1902), which burned to the ground in 1931. Several buildings he designed are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Beaupré Creative Arts Center was an American summer camp for girls, located in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The camp, which ran from 1955 to 1980, focused mainly on theater, dance, and art. The Beaupré property was sold in 1982 to the Berkshire Theatre Festival.
