Lenox, Massachusetts
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| Lenox, Massachusetts | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Massachusetts |
| County | Berkshire County |
| Settled | 1750 |
| Incorporated | 1767 |
| Government | |
| - Type | Open town meeting |
| Area | |
| - Town | 21.5 sq mi (55.6 km²) |
| - Land | 21.2 sq mi (55.0 km²) |
| - Water | 0.3 sq mi (0.7 km²) |
| Elevation | 1,200 ft (366 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Town | 5,077 |
| - Density | 239.3/sq mi (92.4/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 01240 |
| Area code(s) | 413 |
| Website: http://www.townoflenox.com/ | |
Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Set in Western Massachusetts, it is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,077 at the 2000 census. It is the site of Tanglewood Music Center, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Lenox includes the villages of New Lenox and Lenox Dale.
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[edit] History
With mountains to the east and west, the area remained wilderness into the 18th century. Hostilities during the French and Indian Wars further discouraged settlement until 1750, when Jonathan and Sarah Hinsdale from Hartford, Connecticut established a small inn and general store. The Province of Massachusetts Bay thereupon auctioned large tracts of land for 10 townships in Berkshire County, set off in 1761 from Hampshire County. For 2,250 pounds Josiah Dean purchased Lot Number 8, which included present-day Lenox and Richmond. After conflicting land claims were resolved, however, it went to Samuel Brown, Jr., who had bought the land from the Mahican chief, on condition that he pay 650 pounds extra. It was founded as Richmond in 1765. But because the Berkshires divided the town in two, the village of Yokuntown (named for an Indian chief) was set off as Lenox in 1767. The town was intended to be called Lennox, probably after Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond and Lennox (Scottish Gaelic "Laemhnachd"), but the name was misspelled by a clerk at incorporation.
Early industries included farming, sawmills, textile mills, potash production, glassworks, and quarrying. A vein of iron ore led to the digging of mines under the town, and the establishment by Job Gilbert in the 1780s of an iron works at Lenox Dale, also known as Lenox Furnace. In 1784, Lenox became county seat, which it remained until 1868 when the title passed to Pittsfield. The county courthouse built in 1816 is today the Lenox Library.
The region's rustic beauty helped Lenox develop into an art colony. In 1821, author Catharine Sedgwick moved here, followed by actress Fanny Kemble. Nathaniel Hawthorne came from Salem in 1850, staying a year and a half. Other visitors to the area, including Timothy Dwight, Benjamin Silliman and Henry Ward Beecher, extolled its advantages. After an extension of the Housatonic Railroad arrived in 1838, tourists discovered the town in increasing numbers.
In 1844, Samuel Gray Ward of Boston, the American representative for Barings Bank of London, assembled tracts of land to create the first estate in Lenox. Called Highwood, the Italianate dwelling was designed in 1845 by Richard Upjohn. In 1876, Ward hired Charles F. McKim to design in the Shingle Style another property, Oakwood. The period from 1880 until 1920 would be dubbed the Berkshire Cottage era, when the small New England town was transformed into a Gilded Age resort similar to Newport, Rhode Island and Bar Harbor, Maine. The wealthy and their entourage opened immense houses for recreation and entertaining during the Berkshire Season, which lasted from late summer until early fall. One event was the annual Tub Parade, when Main Street was lined with ornately decorated carriages. Property values jumped as millionaires competed for land on which to build showplaces. In 1903, an acre in Lenox cost 20 thousand dollars, when an acre in nearby towns cost a few dollars.
But the Berkshire Cottage era declined with the introduction of Federal income tax in 1913, followed by World War I and the Great Depression. Some estates became preparatory schools, although they would close by the 1970s and 1980s. One property is now a yoga center, another the home of Shakespeare & Company. Some have been converted into vacation condominiums. Tanglewood, the former estate of the Tappan family, would in 1937 become summer home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Lenox remains a popular tourist destination. It was a filming location for the 1996 movie, Before and After. The Cider House Rules (film) was shot at Ventfort Hall for the novel adaptation released in 1999.
 Lenox Library in c. 1909 |
 Bellefontaine in 1912 |
 Curtis Hotel in c. 1912 |
 Shadowbrook in 1908 |
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 55.6 km² (21.5 mi²). 55.0 km² (21.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.7 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (1.26%) is water. Set in the Berkshire Mountains, Lenox is drained by the Housatonic River.
[edit] Demographics
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Lenox, please see the article Lenox (CDP), Massachusetts.
[edit] Education
Lenox boasts one of the best public schools in the state, and consistently has the highest MCAS and SAT scores in the county. Their nickname is the "Millionaires", which has caused controversy in the school. Critics argue that the name labels all the residents wealthy, and is outdated.
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 5,077 people, 2,212 households, and 1,291 families residing in the town. The population density is 92.4/km² (239.3/mi²). There are 2,713 housing units at an average density of 49.4/km² (127.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 96.57% White, 1.30% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. 1.91% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 2,212 households out of which 22.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.7% are married couples living together, 6.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% are non-families. 36.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 20.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.17 and the average family size is 2.84.
In the town the population is spread out with 20.8% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 24.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 46 years. For every 100 females there are 84.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 79.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $45,581, and the median income for a family is $61,413. Males have a median income of $41,226 versus $35,063 for females. The per capita income for the town is $23,263. 8.9% of the population and 5.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 10.3% of those under the age of 18 and 5.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
[edit] Points of interest
- Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum
- Church on the Hill
- Frelinghuysen Morris House & Museum
- Kripalu
- The Mount (Edith Wharton estate)
- The Museum of the Gilded Age at Ventfort Hall
- Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary
- Shakespeare & Company
- Tanglewood
- Ventfort Hall
[edit] Notable residents
- Astor family
- Henry Ward Beecher, clergyman & social reformer
- Andrew Carnegie, industrialist
- Samuel Gray Ward, financier
- Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer
- Fanny Kemble, actress & writer
- Yo-Yo Ma, musician
- Morgan family
- John Paterson, general & congressman
- Catharine Sedgwick, writer
- Anson Phelps Stokes, financier
- James Taylor, musician
- Vanderbilt family
- George Westinghouse, industrialist
- Edith Wharton, writer
