The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-11-14
Depopulation Of Towns.


towns OF Massachusetts is one that
has been often told. Visitors to the
western part of the state frequently
come upon deserted hamlets, marked
by falling buildings, and sometimes
only by the stonefoundations OF what
were once stores and dwellings and
churches. Trees growing i'll old Gel
lars, and tangled vines creep out OF
crevices and cling to the remnants Of
hOmesteads. Allaround the ruins are
fields gone to waste, and forests are
beginning to take root again in lands
that were once cultivated by an ener-
getlc and thrifty people. In most OF
the hill towns of Berkshire and Frank
lin Counties the stern rocks and stub
born soil have conquered the settlers,
the ambitious young people have
sought other homes, so that even the
character of the inhabitants ot the hill
towns is changed. Occasionally the es-
tablishment OF mill or factory has
brought in new population, and the
town in which the manufacturing art
has been set up holds its own, or,
maYhaps, improves a little. But agri-
culture has gathered up her garments
and fled to more kindly regions. The
commercial uses OF most of the hill
towns are not yet discovered. Per
haps another generation will see the
hills covered with theCattle OF the dai-
ry farmers. Perhaps the slightly
places will be crowned with the hand
some houses OF the owners of large es-
tates. There is a tendency in both di-
rectiOns.
George M. Stearns, in many an argu-
ment in the highway litigations in which
he has become so Justly famous, has
told the story of his service as q mail
carrier in the town OF Rowe Accord
ing to this genial and witty advocate,
the roads OF his native town are so
steep that the tail of the horse which
he rode often knocked off his hat
That curious fact bespeaks a remark
able angle, but not nearly so great an
angle as that which the town
of Rowe makes with the line of in
crease of population, for in 1875 Rowe
bOasted 661 people, while now it con-
tains 582. All around it are other
hill towns similarly conditioned.
Hawley's population had shrunk from
5S8 to 545. Leverett's from S3l to
779, Shutesbury's from 55S to 4S5.
Over IN Berkshire County the inhab-
itants of Mount Washington are 100;
in 1875 they were lS2. In Savory
619 people dwell where once were the
homes Of 730. In Washington the de-
crease has been from 603 to 40.
Even the large town Of Great Barring
ton has fallen off. In 1875 its pOpu-
1, - -
Cheshire has l AS people now when
ten years ago it had ,693. Even
Williamstown, growing yearly more
and more into the luxurious position
of a summer resort, has gained only
As residents in the decade.
In Hampden and Hampshire COun-
ties the same stories are told. While
the cities of the commonwealth have
been growing at an almost prOdigious
rate, the historic rural communities
have been dwindlingin numbers. Had
ley is creeping backward to the time
when the regicides lived within her
borders. The meadows OF Deerfield
and NOrthtield are as rich and beauti-
ful as they We're when they tempted
the settlers Of the Connecticut River
to the dangerous neighborhoOd OF
King Phillips Indians, and while
NOrthfield makes a slight advance,
Deerfield is going backward II the old
town, with its rich memories and its
restful shades, with it's fine flavor OF a
departed time, keeps falling off as it
has fallen off in the last ten years
some younger generation than our own
will see the cold street" as those who
knowit loveto callits principal hamlet,
very much as it was when the hostile
Indians swoOped upon it, burning its
homes and killing or carrying off its
people.
1t is a sober story, but not a sad
one, that of those old hill towns.
Their tumbling, weather-beaten build
Ings, their old-fashionedg gardens, where
the flowers OF an earlier fashion struggle
with the conquering weeds, their Sab
bath-stillness, all tell of pleasant and
happy past, and make a strong and
picturesque contrast with the stirring,
glaring civilization, the noise OF whose
wheels and machinery almost pene-
trates to thequiet depths of theshaded
streets-a civilization which has sucked
out the very best blood and brains
from these hill towns.
More than one George NJ. Stearns
has found the angle OF life too acute in
the stubborn old towns OF Western
Massachusetts.