Towns-Great Barrington

Profile

Originally the site of a Mohican Indian settlement before the arrival of Dutch and English settlers. Incorporated as a town in 1761, it was the first place in the country where open resistance to British rule was witnessed. On August 18, 1774, Royal judges were chased out of town by a mob. In 1786, Shay’s rebels demonstrated here. In 1868, W.E.B DuBois, the illustrious African American scholar, was born here.

Great Barrington’s Main Street was the first to have electric lights in the country as a consequence of William Stanley’s experiments with alternating current. The commercial hub of the southern Berkshires, Great Barrington has nevertheless a small town charm, with a vibrant downtown and charming tree-lined avenues, that attracts a range of tourists and second homeowners. Economic activity is mostly relies on tourism.

Population: 7,527

Area: 45.45 sq. miles

Density: 165.61 persons/sq. mile

Great Barrington Airport