If
one were pressed to identify the element in the Berkshire landscape that has
most shaped our history, the answer would have to be the Housatonic River. WILLIAM STANLEY OVERLOOK
If
one were pressed to identify the element in the Berkshire landscape that has
most shaped our history, the answer would have to be the Housatonic River.
Towns like Lee, Pittsfield and Great Barrington located here because of the river. Our transportation patterns, industrial and agricultural economies, and environmental priorities are all tied to the river and the way it flows.
While the Housatonic River Walk provides access to one of Berkshire County's most prominent natural features, visitors may also learn about the region's most important industrial figure.
The new William Stanley Overlook--with a special native garden, observation platform and interpretive signage--provides the perfect venue to celebrate the industrial history of Great Barrington and Berkshire County. Like so much of the River Walk, it celebrates the past so that we may better shape the river's future.
Over the years, we've come to appreciate the river's special role in local and national history. In 2002, the park at the Church Street entrance was named for civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois, whose birthplace is fifty paces away, in recognition of his efforts as an early Housatonic River advocate. See W. E. B. Du Bois River Garden
At the William Stanley Overlook, we highlight Great Barrington's
early industrial history and the important contributions to electricity made by
inventor William Stanley, who in 1886 became the first to successfully transmit
high-voltage alternating current electricity. Stanley's experiments were
conducted along the Housatonic River at the historic Horace Day rubberwear
factory, located directly
across from the River Walk. From there he ran wires across
the river to light stores and offices on Great Barrington's Main Street.
Stanley devised his innovative electric distribution system using an alternating current transformer. He went on to establish a manufactory in Pittsfield in the 1890s which evolved into General Electric Company. Ironically, a later innovation in power transformer production incorporated polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), reckless handling and disposal of which resulted in major contamination of the river.
"Housatonic" means "place or river beyond the mountains," so named by Mahicans, a Native American tribal group that came over from the Hudson to use the Berkshires as a summer hunting ground.
The Housatonic's industrial history began with English settlers who harnessed the river to power sawmills, gristmills and furnaces for the working of iron. Towns began to appear in the 1800s as manufacturing developed, and the river was used to power textile and paper mills. By the 19th century, mills were powered by steam engines and electricity.
But as towns continued to industrialize, the river became a favorite dumping ground for paper wastes, raw sewage and dioxins. In the 20th century, General Electric Company discharged the toxic PCBs it used to insulate transformers, a situation we've only begun to remedy today.
The impressive,
if imperfect PCB cleanup of recent years signals a new era of stewardship, and
marks a renewed appreciation of the river as a natural and cultural resource,
and for the special sense of place that it provides.
The William Stanley Overlook was dedicated
on June 3, 2006, with remarks made by
grandson George C. Stanley and other great grandsons and great great grandsons
in attendance.
Contributions to the creation and care of River Walk and the William Stanley Overlook are tax-deductible and may be sent to:
River Walk
P.O. Box 1018
Great Barrington, MA 01230
(413) 528-3391 river@gbriverwalk.org