Egremont was first settled in 1722 by Dutch settlers from New York. English settlers arrived a few years later, and the town was officially incorporated by Massachusetts in 1761. It is unclear whether the town is named for the English town or for the first Earl of Egremont, whose title was created shortly after Egremont's settlement. For much of its history, Egremont has been an agricultural town, with only a small milling area around South Egremont.
Around New Year's Day, 1776, General Henry Knox passed through the town with cannons from Fort Ticonderoga, which he was bringing to help end the Siege of Boston. Today, the path is known as the Knox Trail, and a historical marker is located in the village of North Egremont.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 18.9 square miles (49.0 km2), of which 18.7 square miles (48.4 km2) is land and 0.23 square miles (0.6 km2), or 1.26%, is water.[2] Egremont lies along the western border of Berkshire County and Massachusetts, with Columbia County, New York, to the west. The town is bordered by Alford to the north, Great Barrington to the east, Sheffield to the southeast, Mount Washington to the southwest, and Copake and Hillsdale, New York, to the west. Egremont is 23 miles (37 km) south-southwest of Pittsfield, 50 miles (80 km) west of Springfield, 140 miles (230 km) west of Boston, and 48 miles (77 km) southeast of Albany, New York.
Egremont is situated in a valley east of the Taconic Range. To the southwest, Mount Whitbeck divides the town from Mount Washington, and to the west, Mount Fray and several other mountains divide the town from New York proper. Mount Fray is the site of the Catamount Ski Area, which is located both in Egremont, Massachusetts and Hillsdale, New York, and is one of only four ski areas in the United States to be located in two states.. Mount Whitbeck and its neighbor, the Jug End, make up the Jug End State Reservation and Wildlife Management Area. The Appalachian Trail extends through the reservation, before turning east at the Jug End towards Great Barrington. The town lies along the Green River, a tributary of the Housatonic River. Several brooks also flow through the town, with one being dammed to form the Mill Pond in South Egremont.
In South Egremont, Massachusetts Route 23 and Route 41 meet just northeast of the Mill Pond, traveling together into Great Barrington. The western end of Route 23 is at the state border within town, where it becomes New York State Route 23. Massachusetts Route 71, which carries part of the Knox Trail, also passes through the town, from Alford to the north to Great Barrington to the east. The highway does not meet the other two, however, until well into Great Barrington. The nearest interstate, Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike), is located north of town, with the nearest exit, the "turn-around" Exit 1, being 12 miles (19 km) to the north in West Stockbridge. There is no rail, bus or air service in town, with the nearest for all three being in Great Barrington. The nearest national air service can be found at Albany International Airport in Albany, New York.
As of the census[14] of 2000, there were 1,345 people, 609 households, and 408 families residing in the town. By population, Egremont ranks twentieth out of the 32 cities and towns in Berkshire County, and 315th out of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. The population density was 71.4 inhabitants per square mile (27.6/km2), which ranks 16th in the county and 301st in the Commonwealth. There were 866 housing units at an average density of 46.0 per square mile (17.8/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.36% European American, 0.07% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.30% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.04% of the population.
There were 609 households, out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.67.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 18.3% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 34.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $50,000, and the median income for a family was $60,104. Males had a median income of $40,885 versus $31,875 for females. The per capita income for the town was $41,702. About 4.3% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Egremont Town Hall
Egremont employs the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a board of selectmen and an administrative assistant. Egremont has its own police, fire and public works departments, and its post office also serves neighboring Mount Washington. The town's library, located in South Egremont, is connected to the regional library networks. A 150 acre public park, located in North Egremont, has tennis courts, ball fields, a modern children's playground, a dog park, a riding ring, hiking and equestrian trails, picnic shelters, and other features.
On the state level, Egremont is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by the Fourth Berkshire district, which covers southern Berkshire County, as well as the westernmost towns in Hampden County. In the Massachusetts Senate, the town is represented by the Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin district, which includes all of Berkshire County and western Hampshire and Franklin counties.[15] The town employs a professional full-time Police Department, and recently completed its first stand alone Police facility. Egremont is also patrolled by the First (Lee) Station of Barracks "B" of the Massachusetts State Police.[16]
Egremont is one of five towns that operate the Southern Berkshire Regional School District (neighboring Mount Washington also sends students to the district's schools). Kindergarten and first-grade students from Egremont and Mount Washington attend either the South Egremont School, a one-room school-house for early-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grades,[17] or the Undermountain Elementary School in Sheffield, which serves students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Sixth- through twelfth-graders attend Mount Everett Regional School.[18] There are private schools in adjacent Great Barrington, Sheffield, Salisbury and Lakeville (in Connecticut) and other nearby towns.
^"1950 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21-10 and 21-11, Massachusetts Table 6. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1930 to 1950. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1920 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1890 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1870 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1872. Pages 217 through 220. Table IX. Population of Minor Civil Divisions, &c. Massachusetts. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1860 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1864. Pages 220 through 226. State of Massachusetts Table No. 3. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
^"1850 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1854. Pages 338 through 393. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
