We put our historical boots to the ground on the old railbed of the Chester and Becket Railroad, built to move granite from the Hudson and Chester Granite Quarry in Becket to the finishing sheds in Chester Factory Village.  With 3d Arial photos/video and old birds eye photography we waypointed historical landmarks including a cattle crossing made of Mitchell Mountain pink granite located behind the current Chester Highway garage.  The mountainside of Round Hill was once grazing land evident by the cistern and wire fence keeping the animals off the railbed.  The late 1890’s was a busy industrial time in Chester with so many workers coming to build the railroad and work in the stone quarries and mills, there was a lack of housing…many multifamily tenements were built and folks lived in camps along what is now Route 20. It was a loud, smoky and dusty town!

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