Sheffield, which includes the village of Ashley Falls, has the honor of being the first town of what is now Berkshire Country. Incorporated on June 22, 1733, the town was once much larger. Its north parish split off and became Great Barrington in 1761.
While you might consider Sheffield, today, to be a bucolic, tourist town, it was once very politically active on the national level. On Jan. 12, 1773, the Sheffield Resolves, also known as the Sheffield Declaration, a petition against British rule and a manifesto for individual rights was signed. This precursor to the Declaration of Independence was published in The Massachusetts Spy, also known as Thomas's Boston Journal, on Feb. 18, 1773. Sheffield was also the site of the bloodiest battle of Shay's Rebellion on February 27, 1787.
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A house in Sheffield.
Computers used in class at Mount Everett High School, Sheffield. March 1992.
Sheffield Town Hall, Sept. 1993
Bushnell-Sage Library, Sheffield, Sept. 1993.
Old Red Mill, Sheffield, 1988.
An old mill in Sheffield.
Built prior to 1776, this house, known as the Little House, was home of Dan Raymond. Raymond, known as the "Sheffield Tory" cut down the town's Liberty Tree. He was put in a coat that was tarred and feathered and tied to a barrel that was brought house-to-house for an apology tour.
Planned location of Mount Everett Regional School District.
Mrs. Decker's 'hot dog stand' on Undermountain Road in Sheffield.
A view of Sheffield.
Sheffield hay ride for guests at Orchard Shade. Charlie Williams, driver and owner of team. Source: Mrs. Carroll H. Mead, Sheffield.
Sheffield Tire Dump. Article: June, 18, 1968.
Old Mill, Sage's Ravine, Sheffield.
Theodore Sedgwick House, Sheffield.
Christ Church, Sheffield.
A view of downtown Sheffield
Ashley Falls School House, Sheffield, 1984.
Built prior to 1776, this house, known as the Little House, was home of Dan Raymond. Raymond, known as the "Sheffield Tory" cut down the town's Liberty Tree. He was put in a coat that was tarred and feathered and tied to a barrel that was brought house-to-house for an apology tour.
Theodore Sedgwick House, Sheffield
Dewey Memorial Hall, on Main Street in Sheffield, was built in honor of Orville Dewey in 1887 in honor of Dewey, founder of the Friendly Union. Dewey founded the Friendly Union in 1871 as away to "increase good and kindly feelings adn to promote intelligence and cheerfulness." Dewey died in 1882.
Sheffield.
About to become a demonstration building for Southern Berkshire Regional School District. April 18, 1980.
Sheffield
Unidentified house, Sheffield
The former "Turnpike Tollhouse" near Ashley Falls, a village of Sheffield, now the home of Horace O. Mills. July 13, 1957.
The former "Turnpike Tollhouse" near Ashley Falls, a village of Sheffield, now the home of Horace O. Mills. July 13, 1957. The 12th Massachusetts Turnpike, which received franchise in 1801 to build a road from the Conn. northwesterly across Sheffield and Egremont to the easterly end of the Hudson Turnpike. Beginning in 1806, a law provided penalties for evading tolls.
Sheffield, Mass.
A house in Sheffield
Clarence H. Warner, deputy sheriff and membr of the general committee of the Congregational Church of Sheffield. Aug. 16, 1933.
Church interior
Unidentified house in Sheffield
Unidentified house in Sheffield
A church in Sheffield
Christ Trinity Church, Sheffield.
Dewey Memorial Hall, on Main Street in Sheffield, was built in honor of Orville Dewey in 1887 in honor of Dewey, founder of the Friendly Union. Dewey founded the Friendly Union in 1871 as away to "increase good and kindly feelings adn to promote intelligence and cheerfulness." Dewey died in 1882.
Our Lady of the Valley Church, Sheffield
De Shanty, the small cabin in Sheffield, where Carlton A. Roraback slept on the night he was murdered. The circle is around a bullet hole — where one of the bullets entered the shack.
Twin Fires, home of Walter Prichard Eaton, Sheffield.
Unidentified building, Sheffield
Old Congregational Church at Sheffield, the longest continuous service of any church in Berkshire Country. Celebrated 200th anniversary in 1933.
A church in Sheffield
Ravinhurst, estate of John Shepard Jr., owner of the Shepard store chain, the Outlet Company, out of Providence Rhode Island. The store also operated the radio station WJAR.
Ravinhurst, estate of John Shepard Jr., owner of the Shepard store chain, the Outlet Company, out of Providence Rhode Island. The store also operated the radio station WJAR.
Sheffield American Legion Post 340
A view from above
Unidentified house, Sheffield
Berkshire School, Sheffield.
In Sheffield
Wilfred P. Roys, of Sheffield, oldest assessor in Berkshire County. He was assessor for 37 years, until his death at the age of 80, in 1936.
John C. Smith, of Smith's Corners, Sheffield, 88, was a deputy sheriff for 35 years and was still a justice of the peace at the time of this photo. He was a member of the Cincinnatus Lodge of Masons in Great Barrington for 66 years.
The Col. John Ashley House, in Sheffield, was the setting for the drafting of the Sheffield Declaration in 1773. The Sheffield Declaration was a manifesto for individual rights that served as a trail run for the drafting of the Declaration of Independence three years later.
Jennifer Huberdeau
Features Editor
Jennifer Huberdeau is The Eagle's features editor. Prior to The Eagle, she worked at The North Adams Transcript. She is a 2021 Rabkin Award Winner, 2020 New England First Amendment Institute Fellow and a 2010 BCBS Health Care Fellow.