>> GOOD EVENING, I'M JIM MADIGAN.
NESTLED IN THE SHADOW OF THE TOWN OF GREAT BARRINGTON SITS
THE VILLAGE OF HOUSATONIC RIGHT ALONGSIDE THE RIVER OF THE SAME
NAME, ONCE BUSTLING MILL TOWN SOME RESIDENTS NOW DESCRIBE IT
AS THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT.
A THROWBACK TO A BYGONE ERA WITH A SURPRISINGLY ECLECTIC GROUP OF
TOWNSPEOPLE, ARTISTS AND BUSINESSES.
THE ARLO GUTHRIE CHURCH SITS AROUND THE CORNER FROM TWO
RECORDING STUDIOS, AND HOLLYWOOD SPECIAL EFFECTS MAGIC WAS
CREATED IN SOME OF THE OLD MILLS.
PRODUCER TONY DUNNE AND VIDEOGRAPHER MARK LANGEVIN PEEL
BACK SOME OF THE SMALL TOWN VENEER IN THE TOWN OF HOUSATONIC
OFF THE BEATEN PATH.
>> HOUSATONIC IS A FORGOT VILLAGE FOR SOME.
>> IT'S AN OFF THE BEATEN PATH, A SMALL TOWN THAT DOES THINGS
THAT YOU WOULD NEVER EXPECT TO BE DONE.
>> IT'S HOME.
IT'S THE SECURITY.
IT'S COMFORT.
>> IT'S EASY GOING.
THERE IS NO BIG RUSH THERE.
>> GIST A LITTLE EUROPEAN TOUCH TO IT, I WOULD SAY.
>> THERE ARE ARTISTS, THERE ARE MAJOR CORPORATIONS.
>> AND WE ALSO HAVE THIS VERY STRONG SENSE OF THE PAST THIS
YEAR.
>> IT'S JUST THE COOLEST LITTLE PLACE, AND IT'S ALMOST LIKE WE
WANT TO KEEP IT A SECRET.
WE DON'T WANT TO RUIN IT.
>> I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS.
EVERYBODY IS GOING TO COME HERE.
>> RIGHT, I KNOW.
>> HOUSATONIC WAS JUST A WILDERNESS FROM GREAT
BARRINGTON, HAD ALREADY BEEN FOUNDED.
IT WAS NOT UNTIL THE RAILROAD CAME IN THE 1840s THAT IT
OPENED UP THE WHOLE AREA, AND ONCE THE RAILROAD CAME THROUGH
BECAUSE THE HOUSATONIC RIVER PROVIDED WATER POWER.
THE FACTORIES STARTED TO BE BUILT.
THE POPULATION EXPLODED.
IT BECAME THE INDUSTRIAL PART OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
>> I STARTED SCHOOL THERE IN 1933.
AT THAT POINT IN TIME HOUSATONIC WAS A VERY ACTIVE TOWN.
THE MILL STARTED WITH TEXTILES OF A VARIETY OF KINDS, AND THAT
REALLY TOOK OFF, AND THEN PAPER MILLS BECAME POPULAR, TOO,
RISING PAPER PRODUCED SOME OF THE FINEST QUALITY WRITING AND
ART PAPER IN THE WORLD.
>> MY MOTHER WORKED THERE DURING THE WAR FOR A WHILE AND MY
FATHER WAS AN ENGINEER.
WE THINK OF HOUSATONIC AS A SMALL VILLAGE BUT IT ACTUALLY
HAD SEVERAL SUBHAMLETS.
>> I GREW UP IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF HOUSATONIC.
>> I AM ACTUALLY, I GREW UP IN A SECTION DOWN THE STREET FROM THE
TRINITY CHURCH.
>> IT'S WHERE ARLO GUTHRIE'S CHURCH IS THAT WAS IN THE MOVIE,
"ALICE'S RESTAURANT."
>> A GOOD PORTION OF THE POPULATION OF HOUSATONIC WERE
POLISH PEOPLE WHO WERE BROUGHT IN BY THE FAMILY.
>> THEODORE RANSDELL WAS ONE OF THE OWNERS OF MONUMENT MILLS,
THE TEXTILE COMPANY.
>> OUR LIBRARY IS NAMED AFTER HIM, A GIFT FROM THE FAMILY.
EVERYBODY WATCHED OUT FOR EVERYBODY ELSE.
IF I DID ANYTHING WRONG IN HOUSATONIC, BY THE TIME THAT I
PEDDLED MY BIKE BACK TO THE STREET, MY MOTHER ALREADY KNEW
WHAT HAPPENED.
>> THERE WAS ALL KINDS OF STARS.
THERE WAS DRUGSTORES, GROCERY STORES, BAR ROOMS, SIX BAR
ROOMS.
>> MY MOTHER WHO GREW UP THERE USED TO JOKE, SHE SAID ON
SATURDAY NIGHT, YOU WOULD DROWN YOUR SORROWS ON SUNDAY MORNING
YOU WOULD ASK FORGIVENESS BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY
CHURCHES UP THERE.
>> WHEN I WALKED PAST THE SCHOOL, I REMEMBER THE MONTANA
STORE, ACROSS THE STREET, YOU COULD ALWAYS GET ICE CREAM
CONES, AND THEN FURTHER ON UP THERE WAS SCHNEIDER'S STORE.
>> WE HAD THE SODA SHOP.
WE HAD A MARKET.
HOUSATONIC SCHOOL WAS OPEN AT THAT TIME.
>> IT'S MUCH DIFFERENT NOW THAN IT WAS THEN, OF COURSE.
>> SUDDENLY WITHOUT WARNING IN 1956 MONUMENT MILLS JUST CLOSED
ITS DOORS ONE DAY, AND THERE WAS AN ECONOMIC DEPRESSION HERE FOR
QUITE SOME TIME.
BUT GRADUALLY, OUR AREA TAPPED INTO THE WHOLE TOURIST MARKET.
>> IT'S ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF A VACATION DESTINATION FOR PEOPLE
FROM THE CITY AND STUFF YOU KNOW, LITTLE GET AWAY PLACE.
>> SO TODAY THE HOUSATONIC IS AN INTERESTING MIXTURE.
THERE IS OLD FACTORY BUILDINGS THAT NEED TO BE RESTORED.
THERE IS SOME THAT HOUSE SMALL BUSINESS.
THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS ALIVE AND WELL.
>> IN A HISTORY ON THE CORNER, IT GOES BACK A LONG TIME.
>> SO WHEN I MOVED HERE ABOUT 26 YEARS AGO, I MOVED TO
HOUSATONIC.
I RAISED MY KIDS IN THIS TOWN, THE REAL ESTATE WAS FOR SALE AND
I WANTED TO OPEN UP ANOTHER BUSINESS.
AND THIS WAS PERFECT.
I ALWAYS LOVED THIS SPOT.
>> A FRIEND OF MINE PASSED BY AND SAW THIS LITTLE SPOT THAT
HAD BEEN SITTING EMPTY FOR YEARS.
IT WAS THE SCHNEIDER HARDWARE STORE THAT HAD BEEN HERE SINCE
1880.
IT JUST -- THERE WAS A COMMUNITY THAT WAS JUST LOST IN TIME.
>> SIT DOWN HERE AND HAVE LUNCH, AND OBSERVE.
BECAUSE IT'S A REAL TREAT, AND WE HAVE A PARK ACROSS THE
STREET, ALL MOMS AND DADS AND LITTLE KIDS AND DOGS.
>> JUST OUT THE WINDOW WE LOOK UP AT FLAG ROCK, WHICH WHICH WAN
INDIAN CEREMONIAL SPOT AND WHAT A PLACE TO START A NEW LIFE AND
BUILD A CAFE, IN HOUSATONIC, WHICH IS THE PLACE BETWEEN THE
MOUNTAINS YOU KNOW, AS THE INDIANS KNEW IT.
>> THEY ARE VERY BLUE COLLAR, LOCAL PEOPLE WHO WORK, HAVE
WORKED IN THE MILLS WHOSE FAMILIES WORKED IN THE MILLS AND
YOU HAVE PEOPLE LIKE ME.
WE ARE ONE OF THE LARGEST DECORATIVE ARTS AND FURNITURE
BUILDING CORPORATIONS IN THE NORTHEAST.
>> 25 YEARS AGO WE DECIDED TO OPEN UP A COOPERATIVE GALLERY,
AND BECAUSE THE AREA WAS SO BEAUTIFUL AND UNDEVELOPED, IT
LENT ITSELF TO THE ARTISTS.
>> THERE ARE PAINTERS THAT LIVE AND WORK HERE, THEIR WORKS SELL
FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, TO THE WEALTHIEST AMERICANS.
>> THERE IS A STUDIO, A SUBSTATION STUDIO.
>> SO IT'S SOMETHING.
>> HOUSATONIC HAS REMAINED A PLACE THAT YOUNG FAMILIES CAN
STILL COME, SO YOU SEE A LOT MORE YOUNG CHILDREN.
YOU SEE A LOT MORE YOUNG PARENTS.
>> IT IS KIND OF LIKE THE OLD BROOKLYN THE WAY IT USED TO BE,
LIKE THERE IS BIG FAMILIES, LOTS OF KIDS.
EVERYBODY KNOWS EACH OTHER.
AND IT'S A REAL COMMUNITY.
>> THIS WOULD BE A GREAT EXAMPLE FOR SOMEBODY IN WASHINGTON TO
TAKE THIS TOWN AS A MICROCOSM AND TO SAY THAT THIS IS WHAT WE
COULD DO.
AND BREATHE LIFE BACK INTO THESE SMALL TOWNS.
>> I WILL SAY THIS, EVERY TIME I GO AWAY BECAUSE WE ARE EAGER TO
GO AND VISIT SOMEWHERE ELSE, YOU KNOW, AND THEN I COME BACK AND I
WAS LIKE DAMN!
THAT'S BEAUTIFUL HERE, YOU KNOW.
>> THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT KEEP ME GOING EVERY DAY THAT I
DON'T THINK THAT I COULD FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE.