The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
and northwest
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
-based
Green Mountains
The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is i ...
that extend south into western Massachusetts; the portion extending further south into northwestern Connecticut is grouped with the Connecticut portion of the Taconic Mountains and referred to as either the Northwest Hills or Litchfield Hills.
Also referred to as the Berkshire Highlands, Berkshire Hills, Berkshire Mountains, and Berkshire Plateau, the region enjoys a vibrant tourism industry based on music, arts, and recreation. Geologically, the mountains are a range of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...
.
The Berkshires were named among the 12 Last Great Places by
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Nat ...
.
Definition
The term "The Berkshires" has overlapping but non-identical political, cultural, and geographic definitions.
Political
Politically,
Berkshire County, Massachusetts, was formed as a governmental unit in 1761. It includes the western extremity of the state, with its western boundary bordering
New York and its eastern boundary roughly paralleling the watershed divide separating the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...
watershed from 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 ...
and
Hoosic River watersheds. However, like most other counties in Massachusetts, the active governmental role of Berkshire County has been abolished, so has no legal or governmental function.
Cultural
Culturally, the term "Berkshires" includes all of the highland region in western Massachusetts west of the Connecticut River and lower
Westfield River. The cultural region also includes the
Taconic Mountains bordering New York, which are geologically distinct from the Berkshires orogeny. Southwest Vermont and the Taconic region of New York are occasionally grouped with the Berkshires cultural region.
Sir Francis Bernard, the royal
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
(in office 1760–1769), named the area "Berkshire" to honor
his home county in England.
Geographic
Geologically and physically, the Berkshires are the southern continuation of the
Green Mountains
The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is i ...
of
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
, distinct from them only by their lower average elevation and by virtue of what side of the border they fall on. In physical geography, the Berkshires extend from 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 ...
and
Hoosic River valleys in western Massachusetts, to the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...
valley in north-central Massachusetts, and to the foot of the lower Westfield River valley in south-central Massachusetts. In Connecticut, where they are referred to as the Litchfield Hills, they extend east from the upper Housatonic River valley in the northwest part of the state.
Geologically, the Berkshires are bordered on the west by the
Taconic Mountains, the south by the
Hudson Highlands, and to the east, they are bordered by the
Metacomet Ridge. They are on the average lower and less prominent than the Green Mountains of Vermont, and form a broad,
dissected plateau
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded such that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, ...
punctuated by hills and peaks and cut by river valleys. The Berkshires topography gradually diminishes in profile and elevation from west to east and from north to south, except where rivers have cut deep gorges and sharp bluff faces into the Berkshire plateau.
Formation
The Berkshires and related Green Mountains formed over half a billion years ago when
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
collided with
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
, pushing up the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...
and forming the
bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...
of the Berkshires. Erosion over hundreds of millions of years wore these mountains down to the hills that we see today.
Elevation
The average regional elevation of the Berkshires ranges from about . One of the high points is Spruce Mountain, at . The highest point in the Berkshires physiographic region is
Crum Hill, , in the town of
Monroe.
Rivers
The Housatonic River, Hoosic River,
Westfield River, and
Deerfield River watersheds drain the Berkshire region in Massachusetts; in Connecticut the main river drainages are the
Farmington River, the
Naugatuck River, the
Shepaug River, and 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 ...
.
Counties
The Berkshire hills runs through:
*
Berkshire County, Massachusetts (towns east of the Housatonic River)
*
Hartford County, Connecticut (Hartland, Granby)
*
Franklin County, Massachusetts (Leyden, Colrain, Shelburne, Conway, Charlemont, Heath, Buckland, Hawley, Ashfield, Rowe, Monroe)
*
Hampden County, Massachusetts
Hampden County is a non-governmental county located in the Pioneer Valley of the state of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, Hampden County's population was 465,825. Its traditional county seat is Springfield, the ...
(Tolland, Chester, Granville, Blandford, Russell, Montgomery)
*
Hampshire County, Massachusetts (Chesterfield, Goshen, Williamsburg, Westhampton, Huntington, Worthington, Cummington, Middlefield, Plainfield)
*
Litchfield County, Connecticut (towns east of the Housatonic River)
Municipalities
The largest municipalities associated with the Berkshires cultural region include
Pittsfield
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield ...
,
North Adams,
Great Barrington,
Williamstown,
Stockbridge,
Lee
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
, and
Lenox, Massachusetts
Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The town is based in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 202 ...
.
History
During the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
a
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
force under
Henry Knox
Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806), a Founding Father of the United States, was a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, serving as chief of artillery in most of Washington's campaigns. Following th ...
brought captured cannons from
Fort Ticonderoga by ox-drawn sleds south along the west bank of the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
from the fort to
Albany, where he then crossed the Hudson. Knox and his men continued east through the Berkshires and finally arrived in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. This feat, known as the "
Noble train of artillery", was accomplished in the dead of winter, 1775–1776.
The Berkshires is also home to
Hancock Shaker Village, which is the oldest continuously working farm in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. Hancock Shaker Village is a landmark destination of 750 acres, 20 historic Shaker buildings, and over 22,000 Shaker artifacts. On the National Historic Register, it is one of the most comprehensively interpreted Shaker sites in the world.
Ecology
The Berkshires lie within the
New England/Acadian forests ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
.
Similarly, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Massachusetts (Griffith et al. 1994) has defined six ecoregions within this area: Taconic Mountains, Western New England Marble Valleys, Lower Berkshire Hills, Berkshire Highlands, Vermont Piedmont, and Berkshire Transition. Each region is distinct from the others, providing a unique habitat assemblage.
Much of the Hoosic and Housatonic River valleys have underlying bedrock
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
and
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
which contribute to calcareous wetlands unique in Massachusetts. The alkaline
pH waters support a diversity of plants and animals intolerant of more acidic waters, some of which are state-listed rare or endangered. Combined with the rich
mesic forest
In ecology, a mesic habitat is a type of habitat with a moderate or well-balanced supply of moisture, e.g., a mesic forest, a temperate hardwood forest, or dry-mesic prairie. Mesic habitats transition to xeric shrublands in a non-linear fashion, ...
s ranging from the
northern hardwood to the
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, sp ...
or sub-alpine, the Berkshires have a valuable, biologically diverse ecosystem.
The classic study of the vegetation of the Berkshire Highlands was Egler's 1940 monograph, covering the flora of an area stretching roughly from
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...
, in the west to
Hatfield, Massachusetts, in the east, and from
Goshen, Connecticut
Goshen is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,150 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Goshen is in central Litchfield County and is bordered to the east by the city of Torrington. According to the United Sta ...
, in the south to the
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
border in the north.
Today, efforts are being made by many organizations to preserve and manage this region for biological diversity and sustainable human development.
Tourism
The Berkshires have numerous trails, including part of the
Appalachian Trail, large tracts of wilderness and parks
Berkshire Botanical Garden
The Berkshire Botanical Garden, is a botanical garden in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, United States. Its collections contain over 3,000 species and varieties, with an emphasis on plants that thrive in the Berkshires.
The Garden was founded in ...
and
Hebert Arboretum The area includes
Bash Bish Falls
Bash Bish Falls, a waterfall in Bash Bish Falls State Park in the Taconic Mountains of southwestern Massachusetts ( Berkshire County), is the highest waterfall in the state. The falls are made up of a series of cascades, nearly in total. The ...
, the tallest waterfall in Massachusetts.
The Berkshire region is noted as a center for the visual and performing arts, many institutions which are associated with
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...
. The art museums include the
Norman Rockwell Museum, the
Clark Art Institute, the
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA),
Berkshire Museum, Hancock Shaker Village, and the
Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). Performing-arts institutions in the Berkshires include
Tanglewood Music Center and
Boston University Tanglewood Institute in
Lenox, the summer home of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 18 ...
; the
Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted contemporary classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. Called "the co ...
Summer Festival for contemporary music in
North Adams;
Shakespeare & Company in Lenox;
summer stock theatre festivals such as the Williamstown Theatre Festival in
Williamstown,
Barrington Stage Company
Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is a regional theatre company in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. It was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, and former Managing Director Susan Sperber in Sheffield, Massachusetts.
In ...
in
Pittsfield
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield ...
, the Berkshire Theatre Festival in
Stockbridge, and Berkshire Playwrights Lab in
Great Barrington;
and America's first and longest-running dance festival,
Jacob's Pillow, in the town of
Becket
''Becket or The Honour of God'' (french: Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu) is a 1959 play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's assassination in 117 ...
.
See also
*
BerkShares
* Famous
Berkshire Cottages:
**
Naumkeag
**
Edith Wharton's
The Mount
**
Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum
*
Litchfield Hills
The Northwest Hills (also known as the Litchfield Hills or Northwest Highlands) are a geographic region of the U.S. state of Connecticut located in the northwestern corner of the state. It is roughly coterminous with the boundaries of Litchfiel ...
*
Taconic Mountains
*
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...
*
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
*
Geography of Massachusetts
Massachusetts is the 7th smallest state in the United States with an area of . It is bordered to the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, to the west by New York, to the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and to the east by the Atlantic Oce ...
*
List of mountains in Massachusetts
This is a list of some of the mountains in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, including those in the mountain range known as the Berkshires.
Mount Greylock is the highest point in the state at 3,491 feet (1,064 m) in elevation. As such, no mount ...
*
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...
, England
*
Berkshire County
Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded ...
References
External links
Berkshire Visitors Bureau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkshires, The
Subranges of the Appalachian Mountains
Mountain ranges of Connecticut
Mountain ranges of Massachusetts
Landforms of Litchfield County, Connecticut
Landforms of Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Regions of Connecticut
Regions of Massachusetts
Tourist attractions in Litchfield County, Connecticut
Tourist attractions in Berkshire County, Massachusetts