These days, people often vacation at Cape Cod. One hundred fifty years ago, people instead headed to country villages like Petersham. “The ‘Golden Age’ of Petersham was from 1880 to 1930, when many cultural and social icons and their families came to the ‘high and beautiful hills of Petersham’ for retreat, reflection and a simpler way of life. This has had a remarkable influence on the community we enjoy today, from community organizations, to land protection, and to written and photographic images that the Town possesses,” according to Larry Buell, Petersham historian.
The summer people usually came from New York and Boston, arriving on Memorial Day and leaving on Labor Day, Buell continued. Rooms and guest houses would be rented out to summer people who wanted a summer retreat in the country, Buell said. Many also stayed at one of three inns at town, which included the Nichewaug Inn built in 1901, the West Road Inn, a large hotel in the center of Petersham, and the Petersham Hotel, which was located near the current library.
Residents loved when the summer people came. The summer people helped support farmers and other year-round residents of the town who supplied produce and were employed at the inns. “My father, the late Harry C. Buell, used to say, ‘Half the people in Petersham work for the other half,’” said Buell.
Two wealthy families from Boston who came to Petersham included Boston lawyers John L. Hall and Charles F. Choate, Jr. The pair rode their horses from Boston to the Berkshires every summer, Buell explained. At one point, when they had stopped in Petersham for the night, according to Buell, they said to each other, ‘Why should we ride out to the Berkshires when there is beautiful land here in Petersham?’ Choate said to Hall, ‘You buy the East Side of the Swift Valley and I’ll buy the West Side,’” Buell said. In 1920, the pair bought land from James W. Brooks. That land became the Choate Farm and the Hall Farm.
Other well known summer people who visited Petersham included George Eastman of Eastman Kodak and Judge Woolsey, who decided a censorship case regarding the book “Ulysses.” Elizabeth Hapgood, interpreter of the Stanislav method of acting, also summered in Petersham. Hapgood translated Stanislav’s method from its original Russian and went on to be the first Russian language professor at Dartmouth College.
The summer people also contributed to the building of Petersham. They founded the Petersham Improvement Society, leveled land for the commons, planted trees, built the bandstand, contributed money to the Petersham Historical Society, created The Petersham Craft Center, and protected forest land in the town. Among the summer people who came to Petersham was James Brooks, owner of United Shoe Manufacturing Co. of Boston, who was born in Petersham. Brooks created the Petersham Agricultural School, once the top agricultural school in the country. “The farms were abandoned in the 1880s as many moved to the city to work in industry …. Brooks funded the Petersham Agricultural High School in the hopes of keeping young people on the farms. Brooks also believed since Yale had a forestry school, so should Harvard. He donated the land that is now Harvard Forest in Petersham,” Buell said.
The Petersham Historical Society has many items from these golden days including journals, donated letters, artifacts from the hotels, as well as other items from that era. Buell is currently compiling a a book titled “The People’s History of Petersham, by Those Who Lived It.” Anyone who would like to contribute to this book can contact Buell at larrybuell2143@gmail.com.
Carla Charter is a freelance writer from Phillipston. Her writing focuses on the history of the North Quabbin area. Contact her at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net.