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2005 Population.......................1,382
2004 Registered voters..................857
1999 Per capita income..............$19,577
2005 Average tax bill................$2,830
1999 Median family income...........$46,548
2003 Budget......................$2,100,000
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Town Hall.....................(413)339-4335
Town Clerk..................Linda A. Wagner
Treasurer.....................Lynn Hathaway
Police Sergeant.............Charles Bellows
Fire Chief.....................Kenneth Hall
School Supt..............Michael Buoniconti
Selectboard.........(chair) Charles Bellows
Paul Fantucchio
Winston Healy
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Mohawk Trail State Forest, off Route 2, offers a scenic picnic
area beside the Deerfield River, 56 campsites, swimming, fishing, hunting,
nature study, hiking, boating, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and
snowshoeing on 6,457 acres in Charlemont, Savoy, Florida and Hawley. Call
413-339-5504 for further information.
Hail To The Sunrise Monument, off Route 2 just north of the
Indian Bridge, depicts a Mohawk Indian looking across the Deerfield River
to the east with arms uplifted in supplication to the Great Spirit. The
900-pound bronze casting is erected on a nine-ton boulder. It is a monument to
the Five Indian Nations of the Mohawk Trail. The arrowhead shaped tablet
at the base of the statue reads: "Hail to the Sunrise- In Memory of
the Mohawk Indian." The memorial includes a pool with 100 inscribed
stones from various tribes and councils from throughout the United States.
Bissell
Covered Bridge, spans the Mill River on Route 8A, not far from Route 2.
Built in 1951, the bridge is 60-feet long.
Charlemont Historical Society, on the second floor of the
Charlemont Town Hall on Main Street, includes early household articles, school
books and desks, horse treadmill, microfilm of the David Malcolm's
publication "Hilltown Neighbors," country store articles, and
records of the town, its churches and the Deerfield Valley Agricultural
Society. Open by appointment.
Mohawk Trail
Concert are professional concerts held in an informal atmosphere in the
Federated Church on Route 2. The programs feature chamber music as well as
theater and contemporary works, bringing together local musicians and
those with national and international reputations. The MTC also sponsors a
chamber orchestra. The concert season is in the summer and fall. Call
413-625-9511 for further information.
Yankee Doodle Day, community celebration at the Charlemont
Fairgrounds. Held in late July.
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In 1735, the General Court granted to Boston three townships. One of
these, originally known as Boston Township No. 1, was referred to as
Charlemont by 1740 and was incorporated as a town in 1765.
The first settlers were Captain Moses Rice and his family from
Rutland, who cleared lands and built a house there in 1743. At the time, the
nearest town was Deerfield, 22 miles away. In August of 1746, the Rices
were warned that hostile Indians were approaching from the north. They
fled to Deerfield. Unfortunately, their home, crops, tools and everything
they left behind were destroyed by the Indians.
Three years later, the family returned and settled permanently. About
the same time, Othneil and Joshua Taylor arrived and built houses. Around
1750, Eleazer Hawks and his sons, Gershom, Seth and Joshua, came from
Deerfield. By 1752, there were about a dozen families in Charlemont.
Because Charlemont was a Frontier settlement and vulnerable to attack,
a series of fortifications were built for protection. Some of these were "mounts,"
a diminutive kind of blockhouse. Others were stockaded dwelling houses.
In June of 1755, a group of people working in a meadow in the upper
part of Charlemont near Rice's fort were attacked by a party of Indians.
Captain Rice and Phineas Arms killed. Titus King and Asa Rice, who was 9 years
old, were captured and taken to Canada. Asa Rice was ransomed six years
later and returned to Charlemont. King was eventually sent to France, then
to England, and from there returned to his native town of Northampton.
Many men from Charlemont fought at Bunker Hill and Bennington, Vermont
during the Revolutionary War.
Agriculture was the principal business of the inhabitants until
modern times. |
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