Lenox

History

The area was inhabited by Mahicans, Native American Algonquian speakers who largely lived along the Hudson and Housatonic Rivers. Hostilities during the French and Indian Wars discouraged settlement by European colonial settlers until 1750, when Jonathan and Sarah Hinsdale from Hartford, Connecticut, established a small inn and general store. The Province of Massachusetts Bay thereupon auctioned large tracts of land for 10 townships in Berkshire County, set off in 1761 from Hampshire County. For 2,250 pounds Josiah Dean purchased Lot Number 8, which included present-day Lenox and Richmond. After conflicting land claims were resolved, it was deeded to Samuel Brown Jr., who had bought the land from the Mahican chief, on condition that he pay 650 pounds extra. It was founded as Richmond in 1765. But because the Berkshires divided the town in two, the village of Yokuntown (named for an indigenous chief) was set off as Lenox in 1767. The town was intended to be called Lennox, probably after Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox (Scottish Gaelic Leamhnachd), but the name was misspelled by a clerk at incorporation. Early industries included farming, sawmills, textile mills, potash production, glassworks, and quarrying. A vein of iron ore led to the digging of mines under the town, and the establishment by Job Gilbert in the 1780s of an iron works at Lenox Dale, also known as Lenox Furnace. In 1784, Lenox became the county seat, which it remained until 1868 when the title passed to Pittsfield. The county courthouse built in 1816 is today the Lenox Library. The region's rustic beauty helped Lenox develop into an art colony. In 1821, author Catharine Sedgwick moved here, followed by actress Fanny Kemble. Nathaniel Hawthorne and his family came from Salem in 1850,…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Lenox is bordered by Pittsfield to the north, Washington to the east, Lee to the southeast, Stockbridge to the southwest, and Richmond to the west. The town center is south of downtown Pittsfield, west-northwest of Springfield, and west of Boston. Lenox is set apart from Richmond to the west by a branch of the Berkshire Mountains, with the highest peak in the ridge being Yokun Seat at . To the east, October Mountain rises above the Housatonic River, which flows along that side of town and is impeded by a dam that forms Woods Pond. Contamination with PCBs is highest in the section of the River from Pittsfield to Woods Pond. Parts of the Housatonic Valley Wildlife Management Area and October Mountain State Forest line the river's east banks there. Several marshy brooks also feed into the river throughout town. The town is also home to the Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary south of Yokun Seat, the Wyndhyrst Resort and Golf Club, and a Miraval Spa. Routes 7 and 20 meet in the southern end of town, heading north along a bypass road towards Pittsfield. Massachusetts Route 7A, the original path of Route 7, passes through the center of town, with a short distance combined with Massachusetts Route 183, which begins near the start of the bypass road. The town center is from Exit 2 of the Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90), the nearest interstate highway. Along the Housatonic River, the Housatonic Railroad route between Pittsfield and Great Barrington passes from north to south. Penn Central trains last made stops at Lenox Railroad Station in 1970. Amtrak rail service on the Lake Shore Limited can be found in Pittsfield, and the town is served by the…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  19,058
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  18,799
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  15,080
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,948
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  14,649
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,383
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,024
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,266

Largest nearby schools

• Taconic High
  High · Pittsfield · 860 students · 9.1:1 ratio
• Pittsfield High
  High · Pittsfield · 651 students · 9.6:1 ratio
• Theodore Herberg Middle
  Middle · Pittsfield · 496 students · 9.5:1 ratio
• Monument Mt Regional High
  High · Great Barrington · 472 students · 10.5:1 ratio
• John T Reid Middle
  Middle · Pittsfield · 450 students · 8.7:1 ratio
• Craneville
  Elementary · Dalton · 446 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• Lenox Memorial High
  High · Lenox · 431 students · 8.6:1 ratio
• Egremont
  Elementary · Pittsfield · 382 students · 11.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.79 — 2015-09-27
  New York
• M 2.76 — 2011-08-27
  5 km WSW of Altamont, New York
• M 2.69 — 2011-08-25
  5 km WSW of Altamont, New York
• M 3.15 — 2009-12-13
  15 km N of Medusa, New York
• M 2.56 — 2009-12-13
  14 km N of Medusa, New York
• M 2.9 — 2009-10-21
  15 km N of Medusa, New York