Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Lanesborough
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Welcome to Mount Greylock State Reservation, a flagship Massachusetts State Park managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR is committed to enhancing the vital connection between people and the environment fot the well-being of all.
Mount Greylock is a special place, an island in time. Its geologic, natural and cultural heritage is unlike any other in Massachusetts. The highest point in southern New England, the summit (3,491 feet) rises above the surrounding Berkshire landscape, providing dramatic views as far as 90 miles. Acquired in 1898, the mountain was Massachusetts’ first wilderness state park. Wild and rugged, yet intimate and accessible, Mount Greylock rewards the visitor who explores this special place.
Subsistence to Conservation
Native Americans encountered the mountain along the Mohawk Trail, a traditional route between the Hudson and Connecticut River valeys. The first farmers to live on the mountain came in the 1760s. As others followed, much of Greylock was cleared for farms and pasture. Visitors to the mountain found both a working landscape and forested landscapes that inspired artists and writers. By 1885, though, so much of the mountain had been logged that local businessmen bought and protected 400 acres at the summit; later they transferred the land to the Commonwealth, creating Massachusetts’ first wilderness park.
Things to Do
Year-round:
• Take in the views
• Explore the reservation’s miles of trails, some of which are designated for hiking, mountain biking, back-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.
• Hike along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail
• Camping at available facilities, accessible only by foot (reservations required in season).
In season (May – October):
• Visit the Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower.
• Enjoy a meal or overnight stay at Bascom Lodge on the summit.
• Discover wildflowers, butterflies and birds.
Mountain Power
In the 1800s, Greylock’s many streams were harnessed to power saw and grist mills. Its trees provided charcoal, used in mills to smelt iron, melt glass and drive looms. But over-logging caused erosion, leading to landslides. Today, Greylock’s forests and rivers have recovered, and the mountain mainly powers the local economy through tourism.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
During the Great Depression, the Federal Government hired jobless men to upgrade the nation’s parks and forests. The CCCs created the modern Greylock park in 1933-41 completing Bascom Lodge on the summit, establishing trails and campgrounds and building the parkway.
From Ocean Floor to High Peak
Greylock’s summit is a testament to the immense power of the Earth. The bedrock that makes up western New England was fashioned a half a billion years ago, at the bottom of a tropical sea near where Brazil is today. Geologic forces pushed the stone northward, where it collided violently with other portions of the earth’s crust. Compelled to rise, the ocean floor lifted up into a vast mountain chain. Millions of years of erosion have worn away these mountains – except for high points, like Greylock peak, made of hard stone that has resisted the leveling of time.
Forest from the North
Mount Greylock’s summit is colder, wetter and windier than its base. The forest at the peak is like those in central Canada – a boreal (subarctic) forest, the only one in southern New England. So dramatic is the change in vegetation that ecologists compare the hike from the bottom to top of Greylock to walking from Pennsylvania to northern Maine.
“Climbing the mountains brings out the joyous, conquering impulses, and places life in sympathetic play with life.” – Greylock Commisioner John Bascom, published in 1913
Landscape Above the Clouds
Bascom Lodge (below), completed in 1938 by the Civilian Conservation Corps is part of the National Register Historic District that encompasses the entire summit. The War Memorial Tower (bottom, shown in 1935), is the centerpiece of the park and is the state’s official memorial to its war dead.
(Environment) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Welcome to Mount Greylock State Reservation, a flagship Massachusetts State Park managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR is committed to enhancing the vital connection between people and the environment fot the well-being of all.
Mount Greylock is a special place, an island in time. Its geologic, natural and cultural heritage is unlike any other in Massachusetts. The highest point in southern New England, the summit (3,491 feet) rises above the surrounding Berkshire landscape, providing dramatic views as far as 90 miles. Acquired in 1898, the mountain was Massachusetts’ first wilderness state park. Wild and rugged, yet intimate and accessible, Mount Greylock rewards the visitor who explores this special place.
Subsistence to Conservation
Native Americans encountered the mountain along the Mohawk Trail, a traditional route between the Hudson and Connecticut River valeys. The first farmers to live on the mountain came in the 1760s. As others followed, much of Greylock was cleared for farms and pasture. Visitors to the mountain found both a working landscape and forested landscapes that inspired artists and writers. By 1885, though, so much of the mountain had been logged that local businessmen bought and protected 400 acres at the summit; later they transferred the land to the Commonwealth, creating Massachusetts’ first wilderness park.
Things to Do
Year-round:
• Take in the views
• Explore the reservation’s miles of trails, some of which are designated for hiking, mountain biking, back-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.
• Hike along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail
• Camping at available facilities, accessible only by foot (reservations required in season).
In season (May – October):
• Visit the Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower.
• Enjoy a meal or overnight stay at Bascom Lodge on the summit.
• Discover wildflowers, butterflies and birds.
Mountain Power
In the 1800s, Greylock’s many streams were harnessed to power saw and grist mills. Its trees provided charcoal, used in mills to smelt iron, melt glass and drive looms. But over-logging caused erosion, leading to landslides. Today, Greylock’s forests and rivers have recovered, and the mountain mainly powers the local economy through tourism.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
During the Great Depression, the Federal Government hired jobless men to upgrade the nation’s parks and forests. The CCCs created the modern Greylock park in 1933-41 completing Bascom Lodge on the summit, establishing trails and campgrounds and building the parkway.
From Ocean Floor to High Peak
Greylock’s summit is a testament to the immense power of the Earth. The bedrock that makes up western New England was fashioned a half a billion years ago, at the bottom of a tropical sea near where Brazil is today. Geologic forces pushed the stone northward, where it collided violently with other portions of the earth’s crust. Compelled to rise, the ocean floor lifted up into a vast mountain chain. Millions of years of erosion have worn away these mountains – except for high points, like Greylock peak, made of hard stone that has resisted the leveling of time.
Forest from the North
Mount Greylock’s summit is colder, wetter and windier than its base. The forest at the peak is like those in central Canada – a boreal (subarctic) forest, the only one in southern New England. So dramatic is the change in vegetation that ecologists compare the hike from the bottom to top of Greylock to walking from Pennsylvania to northern Maine.
“Climbing the mountains brings out the joyous, conquering impulses, and places life in sympathetic play with life.” – Greylock Commisioner John Bascom, published in 1913
Landscape Above the Clouds
Bascom Lodge (below), completed in 1938 by the Civilian Conservation Corps is part of the National Register Historic District that encompasses the entire summit. The War Memorial Tower (bottom, shown in 1935), is the centerpiece of the park and is the state’s official memorial to its war dead.
(Environment) Includes location, directions, 8 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Hanging Bog is a man-made pond built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's on then federally owned land. In 1962 Hanging Bog was transferred to New York State. The pond is referred to as Hanging Bog because of its unique mat of floating vegetation. The "Bog" is the hallmark feature of the 4571-acre Hanging Bog Wildlife Mgt. Area that surrounds it. 
Pioneers in the 1830's by the tens of thousands traveled west over the Territorial Road (roughly parallel to I-94). Many of them stopped in the Jackson area to take up land. Jackson County was named after Andrew Jackson and organized in 1832. The principal settlement, Jackson, founded in 1829, was first called Jacksonopolis and later Jacksonburgh. Located near the head of the Grand River, Jackson has always been an important transportation center. One of America's most famous political conventions took place in this city on July 6, 1854, when 1,500 persons from throughout Michigan assembled "under the oaks" and organized a new party which they named the Republican Party. This area is the the home of Michigan's oldest and largest state prison and many diversified industries.
This building, constructed in 1845 and pictured here in 1903, served as a residence hall of Michigan Central College. The connecting living quarters t the right were built in 1873 by Moses L. Hart, father of Rev. E.P. Hart. Moses Hart, the postmaster from 1873 to 1880, had his office in a corner of the grocery and farm implement store on the left. A hitching post was located on the left side of the building. Since antislavery was one of the platforms of Michigan Central College, this building played a part in the underground railroad. A separate cement basement room had a trap door from a first floor closet, and egress was available through tunnels to outbuildings. At various times before it was razed in 1971 to make way for Weatherwax Drug Store, various enterprises operated from within this building, including a grocery store, meat market, clothing store, restaurant, post office, and a home appliance and carpeting store.
In 1874, Redford Township School District No. 9 bought an acre of land from Eugenius and Abigail Hodge and erected this school. Named Beech School, it served the Beech Park settlement that sprang up here adjacent to the Detroit, Lansing & Lake Michigan Railroad. The school was built to accommodate sixty children--although only fifty residents lived in the settlement at the time--and was the largest in the township. Classes were held in Beech School until 1952. The building has housed meetings of the Masonic lodge and the Boy Scouts of America, served as school offices and storage facilities, and as the headquarters for the Association of Retarded Citizens. In 1988 the South Redford School District sold the property to a private developer.
The tower, designed by the builder and Mason Robert Snodgrass, was erected in 1855 by one William Patrick of Roughwood. It was in tribute to William Wallace "Guardian of Scotland." It is one of series of Wallace monuments built throughout the country in the 19th Century, from the tower the whole of the Ayrshire landscape, coast, and Firth of Clyde can be seen.
On this site in 1884 the Sisters of Mercy established the Convent of Mercy. In 1908 the front building, the convent, was constructed and in 1927 the adjacent school building was occupied by pupils attending Convent of Mercy Academy. The school closed in 1968
New York, Ontario, & Western Station circa 1900. The passenger and freight office for the New York, Ontario, & Western Railroad, which was located on the corner of East Bridge Street and 3rd Streets. The train seen here, New York Central & Hudson River Railroad's engine #999, reportedly one of their faster locomotives, prepares to cross Bridge Street, continue through the tunnel, across the trestle, and on to its depot on West Utica Street.
If you visited Salem’s waterfront in the late 1700s or early 1800s you would have been impressed not only by the ships and their exotic cargo, but also by the variety of artisans and craftsmen who worked on the wharf. Sail makers, riggers, rope makers, and blacksmiths were only some of the skilled workers vital to Salem’s fleets. 
If Salem was once a prosperous world seaport, it was not due to the geography of the harbor, but to the enterprise of her mariners, tradesmen, and merchants. 
The wharf in front of you was Salem’s longest, and was once one of the busiest in the nation. The first 800 feet of the wharf was begun in 1762 and completed about 1770 by Capt. Richard Derby, Sr. (1712-1783), one of the wealthiest merchants in pre-revolutionary Salem, and his son Elias Hasket Derby (1739-1799). During the War of Independence, American privateers sailed from here to prey on British ships on the high seas. 
