Beloved by hikers and those who love the outdoors,
Massachusetts' Mt.
Greylock has inspired everyone from Ralph Waldo
Emerson to Herman Melville.
A magical spot for many, for others, it was just
another mountaintop along the Taconic Mountain Range
until a handful of folks were motivated to create the
state park that we can all enjoy today.
Executive producer Tony Dunne climbed the state's
highest peak to uncover its history.
Here at Mt. Greylock, the history really runs so deep.
Jeremiah Wilbur arrived in 1767 from a farm in Rhode
Island.
And settling in what we call the Bellow's Pipe or the
Notch at the north end of what is now Mt.
Greylock State Reservation.
And in that time, it would have been more or less very
wild and still somewhat primeval.
And Jeremiah cobbled together a 1,600-acre farm
comprising most of the northern end of the mountain
range, including the summit.
In fact, to this day, we call one area along Notch
Road, Wilbur's Clearing.
400 acres of the summit that originally had been part
of Jeremiah's large farm holdings were sold to a group
of northern Berkshire businessmen, who went under the
name the Greylock Park Association.
From those 400 acres, they essentially created
infrastructure that supported tourism, a viewing
tower, an open metal frame, tourist tower; a summit
house; and a coach from North Adams; and a roadway
system. And that roadway system was actually a toll
road, the final mile from below the summit to the top.
And you had -- each visitor had to pay a fee, much as
we continue to charge a fee in order to pay the costs.
And so, in that sense, Mt.
Greylock played a very important, a very key role in
the development of the tourist industry in Berkshire
County and the region, really.
The three founding fathers of Mount Greylock, John
Bascom, being the most prominent to many today because
Bascom Lodge was named in his honor.
And he was the very first gentleman to be appointed to
the Greylock Commission.
And Francis Rockwell, for whom Rockwell Road, the road
going south from the summit to Lanesborough, was
named, followed by Sperry Road, named in honor of
William Sperry, one of the original Greylock
commissioners that operated this park, that leads
through our campground out to a scenic overlook called
Stony Ledge. Because of the unique natural setting and
elevation and latitude of the summit of Mount
Greylock, it really retains rare elements of plant
life, wildlife, and just a physical setting that is
unlike any other in this part of New England.
Henry David Thoreau, without a doubt, is the most
famous literary connection to Mount Greylock.
He arrived here in July of 1844, and the
transformative experience that Henry Thoreau had here
on Mount Greylock, I believe, is something that
continues to inspire visitors today.
James MacArthur Vance is another fascinating
personality that, really has left his mark in many
ways all over the summit of Mount Greylock.
He was involved with the construction of the War
Memorial Tower in 1931, and the Memorial committee
were so impressed with his work, that they hired him
to be the architect designing the Bascom Lodge
addition, when the time came to construct it.
And many years prior to this, he had actually left his
mark in Pittsfield as the architect of what is now the
famous Colonial Theater.
Mount Greylock has achieved such a high profile as a
recreational destination and as a natural setting
because of its visual beauty and the unique ecology
that it is generally considered among the top five
tourist destinations in the northeastern United
States. And in fact, William Brewster, who was a noted
ornithologist in the 19th century, described Greylock
as a Canadian island floating above an Alleghenian
Sea.