Ghosts of the Berkshires

by Robert Oakes

Overview

Before it became a haven for arts and culture, the Berkshires was a rugged, sparsely populated frontier. From the early days of Revolutionary fervor and industrial enterprise to today's tourism, many chilling stories remain. A lost girl haunts a cemetery in Washington, and mysterious spirits still perform at Tanglewood. From the ghostly halls of the Houghton Mansion to the eerie events at the Hoosac Tunnel, residents and visitors alike have felt fear and awe in these hills, telling tales of shadow figures, disembodied voices and spectral trains. Author Robert Oakes, who has given ghost tours at The Mount in Lenox for more than a decade, leads this spirited journey through history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467142793
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	09/21/2020
Series:	Haunted America
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	634,697
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Robert Oakes is a writer, teacher and singer/songwriter from the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. He has written for AAA, Canyon Ranch and a number of other publications and organizations and performs as part of the Berkshire-based folk music duo Oakes and Smith. Since 2010, Robert has led the ghost tours at The Mount in Lenox and has represented the museum and its ghosts on Syfy's Ghost Hunters, Jeff Belanger's New England Legends series on PBS and The Apple Seed, hosted by Sam Payne, on BYUradio. Robert is currently pursuing his master's degree at the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English in Middlebury, Vermont.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction 9

1 Ghosts in the Hills

Wizard's Glen 11

The Hoosac Tunnel 15

The Old Coot of Mount Greylock 18

The Forbidden Lovers of Pontoosuc Lake 21

The Spirit Voices of Bash Bish Falls 23

An Eerie Feeling in the Bones of Becket 27

The Phantom Train of Pittsfield 29

The Spirit Soldier of Fort Massachusetts 31

The Ghostly Guardians of General Washington 32

The Undead Hessian of Egremont 34

2 Ghosts in the Houses

The Mount 38

Ventfort Hall 43

Houghton Mansion 47

Bucksteep Manor 51

The Thaddeus Clapp House 53

Searles Castle 55

Ghost Houses 57

Shadow Brook 58

The Antlers 59

The Mallery Homestead 61

Ashintully 63

3 Ghosts at the Inns

The Ghostly Guest in 301: The Red Lion Inn 66

The Knox Trail Inn 68

The New Boston Inn 71

Whistler's Inn 74

4 Ghosts in the Graveyards

Native American Burial Grounds 77

The Graves of Early Settlers 79

The Sedgwick Pie: Stockbridge Cemetery 80

The Berkshire Body Snatchers 81

The Church-on-the-Hill Cemetery 83

Little Girl Lost: The West Branch Road Cemetery 84

5 The Ghostly Muse and Spiritual Spirits

Highwood's Ghost at Tanglewood 87

A Ghost of a Story at the Colonial Theatre 91

Thp Spirit Gifts of the Shakers 91

Afterword 97

Bibliography 99

Index 123

About the Author 128