The Main Street Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

encompassing the scenic and historic portions of Main Street in

Stockbridge, Massachusetts 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 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridg ...

. The downtown portion of Main Street is widely recognizable due to its use by

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

in his 1967 painting, ''Main Street, Stockbridge at Christmas''. The central portion of Main Street is a broad street with wide green lawns, anchored by a traditional New England town center containing a church and municipal buildings. Along this part of Main Street is the

Mission House The Mission House at Kerikeri in New Zealand was completed in 1822 as part of the Kerikeri Mission Station by the Church Missionary Society, and is New Zealand's oldest surviving building. It is sometimes known as Kemp House. History Samuel ...

, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

that is one of oldest buildings in Stockbridge, dating to the early 1740s. Further to the west the road is more rural, and the district's western boundary is at the crossing of Main Street over 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 ...

. The eastern part of the district includes the retail heart of the town, including the Red Lion Inn and several blocks of shops. The far eastern part of the district is Laurel Hill, a wooded park with views of the town center. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2002. The Stockbridge area has a significant prehistory of Native American use, with archaeological evidence of human use on at least a seasonal basis dating back for centuries. In the early 18th century it was settled by Mahican Indians who had been driven from the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

area by conflict with the Mohawks. These uses included the establishment of a Native burying ground, which is within the bounds of this district. In 1734, the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

founded a "

Praying Indian Praying Indian is a 17th-century term referring to Native Americans of New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Ver ...

" community, with its main settlement where the downtown area is now. The arrival of English squatters and conflicts over land usage patterns led to the Natives eventually losing control of the community. The area's colonial settlement accelerated after the end of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

in 1763. The Red Lion Inn opened in 1775, and it flourished in the early 19th century as a crossroads community not far from the county seat at Lenox.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Stockbridge, Massachusetts

See also

References