Tuesday, June 19
Includes the villages of Montville, New Boston, West New Boston, South Sandisfield and Roosterville. Older maps also identify a northeastern section known as Beech Plain. The town has nine cemeteries dispersed widely over its 52 square miles. With fewer than 16 people per square mile, Sandisfield is the seventh most sparsely settled community among 351 municipalities in Massachusetts. The town's sole post office is on Route 57 near the geographic center of the town. (West New Boston, one of the five hamlets, used to have its own). Brothers Ralph Morrison, the police chief, and Mike Morrison, fire chief, head departments staffed by two constables and volunteers, providing emergency services, including an ambulance corps with EMTs. The public safety departments are funded by town appropriations and state grants. Sandisfield native Dr. Edmund Hamilton Sears composed the Christmas carol "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Sandisfield State Forest, accessed via Forest Road off Route 57 near the Sandisfield-New Marlborough line, includes six lakes; the primary day-use area is York Lake, with a picnic area, a 300-foot sandy beach and a boat launch ramp. All the lakes are stocked with trout and can be used by non-motorized boats. Other seasonal activities walking and hiking trails, horseback riding, cross-country
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skiing, snowmobiles and hunting. The Sandisfield Public Library on Route 57 circulates nearly 5,000 books and more than 110 videos. It's open Monday and Tuesday from 9 to noon, Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Information: 258-4966. The New Boston Nursing Home, with 55 beds, offers long-term care. The new owners, Sheehan Health Group, have committed $500,000 to upgrading the facility. The New Boston Inn, at 101 North Main St. (Route 8) has seven guest rooms, a dining room, a pub and billiard room. Originally built in 1737, it was used to train soldiers during the Revolutionary War, and also served as a hospice for the soldiers. According to the inn's Web site, Ann Lindbergh wrote her memoirs there; Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were often spotted in the pub, and Bing Crosby was an occasional visitor. The inn is said to be "haunted" by a young lady named Harriet who was murdered there in 1805 on her wedding day by a rejected suitor.