Isaac Bristol’s rake factory, was first used in 1845. The settlement of the town of Louden, now Otis, first settlers were David, Stephen, and Isaac Kibbee, soon after followed by Paul Larkeom, Dan Gregory, Jeremy Stow, Ephraim Pelton, George Troop, Ebenezer Trumbull, Jacob Cook, Timothy Whitney, Jonathan Norton, and Smith Marcy. The Kibbee’s and Larkeom were from Enfield, Conn., Pelton from Greenville, Whitney from Petersburg, Norton from Suffield, and Marcy and Troop from Woodstock, CT. Later Bethlehem began to be settled, its first inhabitants being Daniel Sumner, Thomas Ward, Phineas Kingsbury, Adonijah Jones, Ebenezer Jones, Miles Jones, John Spear, John Plumb, James Breckenbridge, and Robert Hunter, most of whom were emigrants from Palmer. In 1791, the town had 605 residents. The first road, or path. made through the town was in 1759, by General Amherst and his army.

Mr. Tom Ragusa gave us a quest to find the Bristol Monument. The declaration we were given: ” the towns of Becket and Otis have this day established and caused to be erected, a stone monument properly marked, near the sawmill of Isaac Bristol, on the town line between the towns of Otis and Becket, twelve feet cast from the ? of the town of Becket, which is located In the center of the brook leading from the Shaw pond so called. Becket November 30th 1876.(from Town Meeting and Election Results 1889-1916)

#hikethehilltownhistory
#hikethehilltowns with the #westernmasshilltownhikers #discoverthehilltowns #visitthehills #hilltownhistory #flashhike #intheberkshires #nature #adventure #history #hiking #outdooradventures #visittheberkshires #mylocalMA #visitma #hilltownhikers #westernmass
Visit our blog for all of our adventures! We are on Instagram TikTok Pinterest Twitter YouTube Meetup @hilltownhikers want to come along on these hikes?
become a member at www.hilltownhikers.com and get notified of all the hikes every Friday, Saturday and Sunday year round!
A 501c3 Massachusetts Non-Profit Organization