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The South Lee Historic District encompasses the historic portion of the village of South Lee in
The town of Lee was settled in 1760, comparatively later than neighboring towns, and was incorporated in 1777. South Lee was a remote outpost off major roads until the Housatonic River Turnpike was built in 1806 by Col. Joseph Whiton, who had in 1794 built the house now known as the
Lee, Massachusetts
Lee is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, metropolitan statistical area. The population was 5,788 at the 2020 census. Lee, which includes the villages of South and East Lee, is p ...
. Extending mainly along Massachusetts Route 102 (Pleasant Street) between Fairview Street and the Stockbridge town line, the village is a well-preserved 19th-century mill village, with fine Federal and Greek Revival buildings and a later 19th-century paper mill. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Description and history
The town of Lee was settled in 1760, comparatively later than neighboring towns, and was incorporated in 1777. South Lee was a remote outpost off major roads until the Housatonic River Turnpike was built in 1806 by Col. Joseph Whiton, who had in 1794 built the house now known as the Merrell Tavern
The Merrell Tavern, known more recently as the Merrell Inn, is a historic tavern at 1565 Pleasant Street (Massachusetts Route 102) in South Lee, Massachusetts. Built in 1794 as a residence, it has served for most of two centuries as a local trav ...
. Whiton was a major early economic force in the village, operating a sawmill, forge, and brickyard. Now on a major east–west route, and close to what became a major north–south route (now United States Route 7
U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States highway in western New England that runs for through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 95 (I-95) exit 1 ...
), the village soon grew as a traveler's stop and civic center. Industry also developed, with one of the first paper mills in the Berkshires opened on the banks of the Housatonic River
The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...
in 1806, joined later by other industries. The railroad's arrival in 1848 spurred further development, including the construction of a large paper mill by the Hurlbuts in 1872.
The historic district extends along Pleasant Street from the Stockbridge town line in the west to Fairview Street in the east, and for a short distance along the latter roadway. This area is hemmed in by the Housatonic River and Bear Mountain in the south, and a relatively steep ridge in the north. Most of the architecture is wood-frame residential, although three early Federal period buildings are of brick, including the Merrell Tavern, the village's oldest surviving building. The most common styles found in the village are Federal and Greek Revival, reflecting the village's period of growth in the first half of the 19th century. Archaeological resources in the district include remnants of some of its 19th century industrial complexes.
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Berkshire County, MassachusettsReferences
{{National Register of Historic Places Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Lee, Massachusetts