Tuesday, January 30
Incorporated: 1793

Settled: 1766

Population: 3,401 (2000 U.S. Census); 3,357 (town census, 2005).

Area: 27.55 square miles.

Elevation: 961 feet (average).

Average annual snowfall: 82 inches (estimated).

Median resident age: 41.

Median household income: $41,981 (national: $41,994) (U.S. Census, 2000).

Median family income: $53,885.

Average house value: $169,038 (DOR, 2006).

Average property tax: $1,538, single-family home (DOR, 2006).

Unemployment rate: 4.4 percent (November 2006).

Races:

This farm is owned by Jean Foisy, 84, who bought it after serving in WWII. Photo by Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff

White, 3,340; Hispanic/Latino, 15; African-American, 13; American Indian/Alaska native, 3; Asian, 21; mixed, 22; other, 2 (U.S. Census, 2000).

Ancestries: Polish, 18 percent; Irish, 17 percent; French, 14 percent; Italian, 11 percent; English, 11 percent; German, 8 percent; French Canadian, 7 percent; Scottish, 3 percent; Swedish, 1 percent; Dutch, 1 percent; Welsh, 1 percent; Scotch-Irish, 1 percent; (U.S. Census, 2000).

Town Web site: None.

The town ...

... was named for Cheshire, England. ... is home to the Cheshire Cheese Press Monument, located at the corner of Church and School streets, a replica of the press Cheshire residents used to gift a giant block
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of cheese to President Thomas Jefferson. ... has The Solomon Cole House, a former Masonic meeting place replete with an eight-panel Christian door that forms the double-cross as protection from witchcraft. ... has what is considered one of the best views in the Berkshires from The Pioneer Monument on Stafford Hill, a fieldstone replica of a Newport, R.I., tower believed to have been built by Norse explorers in the 12th century. ... serves 510 students at The Cheshire Elementary School in kindergarten through Grade 6, and most high-school students attend Adams-Cheshire Regional or McCann Technical High schools.

Of interest ...

The Cheshire Fire Department's origins can be traced back to the summer of 1892 when a public subscription was taken to buy hose and a cart. The organization was first known as The Cheshire Fire Hose Co. The organization's annual fundraising ball was first held in January 1900.

After decades in the Town Hall cellar and an old trolley substation, the fire station was relocated to the former Lamb's Garage in 1986.

Plans are in the works to create a no-frills Web site for the town.