Destination:
The Berkshires
of Western Massachusetts

Egremont

Production of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

This southern Berkshire township has Dutch roots and ancient limbs.

Known as "The Town of the Ancient Trees," the territory that now comprises Egremont was first settled by Dutch immigrants who lived off the lay of the land. The first English settlers who came to Sheffield in 1725-26 found that someone had beat them to the area. The Dutch claimed the land they tilled should be forever theirs and cited the 1722 Patents of Westenhook as the legal basis for their territorial rights.

But in 1724, Mahican (Mohican) Indian Chief Konkapot sold much of the Indian lands in South Berkshire. He retained a strip of land that stretched east to west for five-eighths of a mile and extending from the 1761 New York boundary to the Housatonic River. He then deeded the territory to Mahican Indian John Van Gilder, and Gilder's land is what eventually incorporated into the township of Egremont.

Today, Egremont is made up of two villages, North and South Egremont, which share one government. The village has worked diligently to maintain its historic gentility and quiet country atmosphere.

In the Area:
Jug End State Reservation
Prospect Lake.

The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce
362 Main Street
Great Barrington, MA 01230
(413) 528-1510
Fax: (413) 528-6062

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