1897 Map of Pittsfield

About this map

Lebanon Springs and the surrounding borderlands of Massachusetts and New York reveal a late 19th-century landscape defined by early industry and communal settlements. The map highlights significant Shaker communities, including Canaan Shakers, Shaker Village, and Mt Lebanon, marking the cultural footprint of these societies at their height. Industry is evident at Richmond Furnace and along the busy rail corridors of the Boston and Albany Railroad and the New York New Haven and Hartford. Water resources like Lake Onota, Pontoosuc Lake, and the Stockbridge Bowl are prominently featured, while the steep grades of Lenox Mountain and Perry Peak separate the residential centers of Pittsfield and Lenox from the rural valleys of Canaan. This survey documents a critical period when heavy rail and local milling operations dictated the growth of these Berkshire and Columbia County townships.