Local History

By Rich Bradway

Editor’s note: Rich was kind enough to share his notes for the remarks at the meeting of the Land Trust. They are posted here because they are interesting. Did you know we had a train to nowhere? Did you know how strong and varied the Stowe family connection was to The Berkshires? From The Star Papers by Henry Ward Beecher to Harriet Beecher Stowe to Gertrude Robinson Smith and the Shed at Tanglewood. Read on...

Train to nowhere

1860’s the idea of a connecting train route between West Stockbridge and Lee was devised - the Lee & Hudson Railroad
This would connect both north and south routes from the Albany area to east to west routes across Massachusetts and Connecticut
1869 a survey was done of the proposed new track from Westfield to West Stockbridge
1871 the Lee & Hudson Railroad was incorporated backed by Elizur Smith (papermaker of Lee), John B. Hull, and Henry D. Cone (papermaker)
1872 Lee subscribes $85K and Stockbridge $40K towards the project
Contracts made for the grading of the railbed and by fall construction starts
Proposed route would branch off near the “dry bridge” and follow Butler Road, continue NW across the Bowker property towards Mohawk Lake, crossing the road and skirting the east and north sides of the pond as it banks west towards West Stockbridge towards Route 41.
Early 1873 60 men in 5 gangs work on various sections, but in May 1873 funds run out.
1874 “grading of the Lee & Hudson Railroad from Lee to West Stockbridge seems to be well advanced.
September 1874 work was suspended due to a court injunction on property. Contractors start suing for funds owed, and other railroads start to back out of the project.
1876 the expenditures were nearly $250,000 with no sign of recovering expended monies from the state.
Nothing is reported to the state from this point on and in 1883 the project disappears from the Commonwealth’s books and the project is officially dead
Today some of the grading can still be seen driving towards Mohawk Lake (left hand side) and some areas where they drilled through rock are still accessible and show the work that was done in preparing the connection to West Stockbridge
The financial drain on the investors was significant. Some like Henry D. Cone never bounced back financially.

The Stowe family

The Stowe family’s connection to Stockbridge dates back to the period 1865 to 1872 when Harriet Beecher Stowe visited Laurel Cottage where her son-in-law and daughter were living while the son-in-law was rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church - Rev. Henry Allen.

Editor’s note: Harriet’s brother, the Reverand Henry Ward Beecher resided at Blossom Hill in Lenox (Miraval today).

In 1929 Hilda Beecher Stowe - nee Robinson Smith, was deeded, by her parents, Charles Robinson and Jeannie Steele Smith, the land which included the building “The Dugway”, amounting to roughly 100 acres of land in the Glendale section of Stockbridge and some in West Stockbridge. The various tracts of land had been purchased by Charles Robinson Smith between 1917 and 1926 and included a part of the former Lee & Hudson Railroad (railroad to nowhere).
The property was used as a summer residence and was near the cabin built by Hilda’s locally famous sister, Gertrude Robinson Smith, who was responsible for the construction of the Shed at Tanglewood [Ed: and founder of the Berkshire Symphonic Festival renamed Tanglewood].
Lyman Beecher Stowe and family would entertain at the house and Stowe gave various lectures in the area about his books, especially about his book Saints, Sinners, and Beechers
Lyman Beecher Stowe died in 1963 and Hilda Stowe in 1965. The house “The Dugway" and 17 acres were sold to Alan Winslow in 1965.
Between 1965 and 1967 Alan Winslow tried to obtain a permit to run a private school out of the Dugway property, but each attempt failed.
The property was sold in 1967 to Clark Moore for $58,000.
The remaining acreage stayed within the Stowe family until being donated for green space preservation in 2025.

Photo: Dana Goedewaagen/Blue Moon Images