Historical Markers and War Memorials in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the county seat for Berkshire County
Great Barrington is in Berkshire County
Berkshire County(159) ► ADJACENT TO BERKSHIRE COUNTY Franklin County(95) ► Hampden County(123) ► Hampshire County(69) ► Litchfield County, Connecticut(266) ► Columbia County, New York(274) ► Dutchess County, New York(336) ► Rensselaer County, New York(162) ► Bennington County, Vermont(63) ►
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Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south.
”We believe that the Negro people as a race have a contribution to make to civilization and humanity that no other race can make.” —W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Conservation of Races,” 1897 Du Bois travelled widely in Europe, Asia, and . . . — — Map (db m194759) HM
Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south.
”History cannot ignore W.E.B. Du Bois because history has to reflect truth and Dr. Du Bois was a tireless explorer… of social truths. His singular greatness lay in his quest for truth about his own people.” —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., . . . — — Map (db m194398) HM
On Main Street (U.S. 7) at Cottage Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
On 20 March 1886 William Stanley provided alternating current electrification to offices and stores on Main Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He thus demonstrated the first practical system for providing electrical illumination using . . . — — Map (db m154428) HM
Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 32/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south.
Placed by the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Committee in 1969, the boulder commemorates the life and work of W.E.B. DuBois, scholar and activist. —————W. E. B. Du Bois Memorial Committee, 1969 Shirley Graham Du Bois, Honorary Chairman Edmund . . . — — Map (db m194761) HM
Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road, on the right when traveling south.
“There can be no perfect democracy curtailed by color, race, or poverty. But with all, we accomplish all, even peace.” —W.E.B. Du Bois, The World and Africa, 1965 We hope that you have gotten to know W.E.B. Du Bois better . . . — — Map (db m194760) HM
On S Main Street at Silver Street, on the left when traveling north on S Main Street.
A Devastating Tornado
Passed This Way
Memorial Day - May 29, 1995
In Memory of the Three Who Died
In Recognition of All Who Endured
In Gratitude to Fire, Police and Rescue Personnel
Who Risked Their Lives To Save Others.
In . . . — — Map (db m138419) HM
On S Main Street at Church Street, on the right when traveling north on S Main Street.
First Congregational Church
Gathered in 1743 as the Second Parish of Sheffield, the congregation worshipped in The Meeting House which was located one half mile from here in the Water Street Cemetery near the big bridge. It was one of only three . . . — — Map (db m138424) HM
On Main Street (U.S. 7) at Castle Street, on the left when traveling north on Main Street.
Near this spot stood the first court house of Berkshire County erected 1764. Here August 16, 1774 occurred the first open resistance to British rule in America — — Map (db m58957) HM
On State Road (Massachusetts Route 23) at East Street, on the right when traveling east on State Road.
Fifty feet to the east stood the
First Meeting House
of the
Town of Great Barrington
then known as
Upper Ousatonuck.
Erected 1742, it was used many years for the
public worship of God, and as the Town House.
"Our Fathers' God. We . . . — — Map (db m196001) HM
On Massachusetts Route 23 at U.S. 7, on the left when traveling east on State Route 23.
Through this place passed General Henry Knox in the winter of 1775 – 1776 to deliver to General George Washington at Cambridge the train of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga used to force the British Army to evacuate Boston. Erected by the . . . — — Map (db m24013) HM
Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south.
Du Bois' campaigns for democracy were not always popular, even with those who shared his goals. In 1951, at the height of the Cold War, the United States government alleged that the 83-year-old scholar was an unregistered foreign agent for his . . . — — Map (db m194399) HM
On Main Street (U.S. 7) at Castle Street, on the left when traveling north on Main Street.
A Tribute
Of honor and Gratitude
To Her Citizens Who Fought
For Liberty and Union
1861. – 1865.
Erected by the Town of
Great Barrington.
1876. — — Map (db m58955) HM
On Castle Street at Main Street (U.S. 7), on the right when traveling east on Castle Street.
Erected November 11th 1936
By the School Children
Of Great Barrington and Housatonic
In Honor of the 359 Men and Women
Who Served Their Country
In the World War.
Abel, Harrison G. • Ackerman, Arthur P. • Adams, Ernest W. • Alcott, Bruce . . . — — Map (db m58960) HM
Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south.
You are entering the House of the Black Burghardts, as Du Bois called his grandparents' home, the place where he had lived as a child. Du Bois maintained a strong attachment to Great Barrington his entire life, and returned frequently to visit. . . . — — Map (db m194402) HM
On S Main Street at Pleasant Street, on the right when traveling north on S Main Street.
Laura Ingersoll Secord
1775 - 1868
Laura Ingersoll was born in a dwelling which stood on this site until 1913, when Mason Library was built. She was the daughter of Elizabeth (Dewey) and Thomas Ingersoll, a hatter and miller with privilege nearby . . . — — Map (db m138423) HM WM
On Main Street (U.S. 7) at Cottage Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
Memorial Street Light
erected by
Massachusetts Electric Company
June 28, 1986
in recognition of
William Stanley
and his contributions to the
Electric Utility Industry — — Map (db m58987) HM
Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south.
"It is the first home that I remember. There my mother was born and all her nine brothers and sisters.... [It was the] center of the world... a delectable place — simple, square and low, with the great room of the fireplace, the flagged kitchen, . . . — — Map (db m194758) HM
On Castle Street at Main Street (U.S. 7), on the left when traveling east on Castle Street.
The Mahaiwe Theater
has been placed on the
National Register
Of Historic Places
By the United States
Department of the Interior
Built 1905 — — Map (db m58958) HM
The Niagara Movement was Du Bois’s first attempt to form a civil rights organization. This was the first substantial Black-organized protest movement of the twentieth century. It led to the founding of the NAACP in 1909.
The first meeting . . . — — Map (db m149483) HM
Near S Main Street at Silver Street, on the left when traveling north.
“In 1950 the month of February had for me special meaning. I was a widower. The wife of 53 years lay buried in the New England hills beside her first born boy”
W.Е.В. DuBois (1868-1963)
Premier Architect of the American . . . — — Map (db m149481) HM
On Church Street near near School Street, on the right when traveling west.
“I was born by a golden river and in the shadow of two great hills, five years after the Emancipation Proclamation.”
Birthsite of W.E.B. Dubois (1868-1963)
Premier architect of the American Civil Rights Movement
Erected by The Great . . . — — Map (db m149510) HM
I was born by a golden river and in the shadow of two great hills, five years after the Emancipation Proclamation – W.E.B. Dubois
Golden River
Great Barrington native W.E.B. Du Bois was an early founder of the Civil Rights . . . — — Map (db m149482) HM
Near South Egremont Road (Massachusetts Route 23/41) 0.1 miles south of Egremont Plain Road (Massachusetts Route 71), on the right when traveling south. Reported damaged.
”Make way for Democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the United States of America, or know the reason why.” —W.E.B. Du Bois, “Returning Soldiers,” The Crisis, May 1919 William Edward . . . — — Map (db m218706) HM
Kindled by his love for the Housatonic River, W.E.B. Du Bois became a champion of rivers around the world.
Harlem Renaissance writer and poet Langston Hughes composed “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” when he was only eighteen years . . . — — Map (db m149484) HM
On Main Street at Cottage Street, on the right when traveling north on Main Street.
William Stanley
1858 1916
Inventor
His genius made Great Barrington the first community to be lighted by alternating current in March 1886.
Monument erected by the Rotary Club of Great Barrington on its fiftieth anniversary.
May 18th . . . — — Map (db m58972) HM
William Stanley (1858-1916) devised an innovative electric distribution system using an alternating-current transformer. His laboratory was in Horace Day’s rambling, vacant rubberwear factory, the foundation of which is just visible on the . . . — — Map (db m107662) HM
On Main Street (U.S. 7) at Castle Street, on the left when traveling north on Main Street.
You Stand Free
Because They Served
In everlasting memory and tribute to the men and women of Great Barrington who, in defense of their country and the human rights of mankind, served with honor and distinction in the armed forces of the United . . . — — Map (db m58896) HM
