Bernardston MA

Below left is an Interactive Map provided by Google. Use it to get directions to and from locations in this community in, MA. Various icons link to our community pages plus Real Estate Listings, Wikipedia article, official town page, and a Google web search of the community.

Bernardston MA is located in Franklin County, Massachusetts with a population of over 2 thousand people. Official Website

Photo below shows a photo showing 3 beautiful steeples in Bernardston MA. (Click to open larger photo in new window)

Information and History

Bernardston MA has a town website. Here are some quick links to Bernardston information: Current Newsletter, Selectboard Meetings on Video, Town Calendar, Board of Selectmen, Cushman Library, and Pioneer Valley Regional School

From wikipedia: Bernardston, Massachusetts, initially known as Falls Fight Township. was a frontier settlement created by and for the families of soldiers who had fought in King Phillips War specifically in the Battle of Turner’s Falls a major engagement under Captain Turner in 1676.^] Major John Burke was an early settler of the town, his father was one of the veterans granted land in Falls Fight.

In November, 1734, the following was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts:

A petition of Samuel Hunt, of Billerica, for himself and other survivors of the officers and soldiers that belonged to the company of Capt. Turner, and the representatives of them that are dead, shewing that the said company in 1676 engaged the Indian enemy at a place above Deerfield, and destroyed above three hundred of them, and, therefore, praying that this court would grant them a tract of land above Deerfield suitable to make a township.

The petition was granted and the proprietors of the new township began recruiting 60 families to settle in the town. John Burke, Samuel Connable, Lieut. Ebenezer Sheldon, and Deacon Sheldon built the first four houses, in 1738. They were of hewn logs, with port-holes in the walls for defense against the Indians.

Bernardston was originally part of the town of Colrain. Bernardston separated from Colrain and was officially incorporated in 1762, with the town of Leyden being separated from it in 1784 (it was not incorporated until 1809, however). Bernardston is named for Governor Francis Bernard, who was royal governor at the time of incorporation. In early maps of Massachusetts, Bernardston is shown as ‘Bernard’s Town’.

For much of the town’s history, Bernardston has been an agricultural community, producing rye, corn, cider, and was one of the first communities to produce maple syrup. The town also has the unusual distinction of having once sent the largest animal ever to the New York meat markets, a 2,473-pound (1,122 kg) ox nicknamed “Constitution” or “Hero”.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 23.4 square miles (61 km²), all land. Bernardston lies along the northern state line, south of Windham County, Vermont. The town is bordered by Guilford and Vernon, Vermont, to the north, Northfield to the east, Gill to the southeast, Greenfield to the southwest, and Leyden to the west. The town center lies 7 miles (11 km) north-northeast of Greenfield, 43 miles (69 km) north of Springfield, and 89 miles (143 km) west-northwest of Boston.

Bernardston lies in the Pioneer Valley, on the edge of the Pocumtuck Range. Several mountains, including Wildcat Mountain, West Mountain, Bald Mountain, East Mountain and Pond Mountain, dot the landscape, on either side of the Fall River, a tributary of the nearby Connecticut River. Several other brooks flow through town as well. To the northeast, portions of the Satan’s Kingdom Wildlife Management Area pass into the town, mostly around Pond Mountain.

Bernardston lies along the path of Interstate 91 and U.S. Route 5, both of which pass from Greenfield through town towards the Vermont state line. Bernardston is the northernmost town along both I-91 and U.S. 5 in Massachusetts, which then both cross into Vermont. Massachusetts Route 10 leaves its concurrency with Route 5 in the southern part of town, before passing eastward towards the Connecticut River and New Hampshire. The town also lies along the north-south portion of the Springfield Terminal railway, which roughly follows the path of Route 10. The nearest regional bus service is in Greenfield, with the nearest general aviation airport in Montague. The nearest Amtrak station is in Greenfield, and the nearest national air service is at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Bernardston employs the open town meeting form of government, and is led by a board of selectmen and an administrative assistant. Bernardston has its own police, fire and public works departments, as well as a post office and the Cushman Library, which is connected to the regional library network. The nearest hospital, Franklin Medical Center, is located in Greenfield, as are most of the nearest state offices.

On the state level, Bernardston is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as part of the Second Berkshire district, represented by Paul Mark, which covers central Berkshire County, as well as portions of Hampshire and Franklin Counties. In the Massachusetts Senate, the town is in the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester district, represented by Jo Comerford, which includes most of eastern Franklin County and much of eastern Hampshire County. The town is patrolled by the Second (Shelburne Falls) Station of Troop “B” of the Massachusetts State Police.

Bernardston is a member of the Pioneer Valley Regional School District, which includes several northern border towns to the east. The district is essentially operated in two portions; the towns each have their own semi-independent elementary schools, with students attending Pioneer Valley Regional High School in Northfield from seventh through twelfth grades. Students in Bernardston attend the Bernardston Elementary School from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The Full Circle School, a naturalistic-based school for students preschool to sixth grade, is located in the town on Parmenter Road.^] There are also private, parochial and charter schools in Greenfield and other nearby communities, with the most prominent private schools being Northfield Mount Hermon School in nearby Gill and the Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield.

The nearest community college, Greenfield Community College, is located in Greenfield. The nearest state college is Westfield State College, and the nearest state university is the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The nearest private colleges, including members of the Five Colleges and Seven Sisters, are located southeast in the Northampton–Amherst area.

Bernardston MA Photos

Click any photo for larger version which opens in new window