MONTEREY, Mass. — Join the Monterey Historical Society, Monterey Library and the Bidwell House Museum to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Henry Knox's Noble Trail of Artillery through the Southern Berkshires.

 

Beginning in December of 1775 from Fort Ticonderoga in New York, twenty five year old Henry Knox led an expedition to move 60 tons of captured British artillery to the Continental army in Boston in order to force the British to evacuate the city. Knox's journey took three months and came through the Berkshires in January of 1776, during the depths of winter, using little more than ox and horse-drawn sledges and manpower.

 

On Thursday April 16th at 7 p.m., you can attend the final talk in this series about the Knox Trail where Tom Ragusa will discuss how he has traced and marked the route of the old road for 8 miles, and his effort to list the road on the National Register. 

 

This is the longest undisturbed stretch of the historic road in Western Massachusetts. Tom Ragusa has spent almost twenty years researching and documenting the location of the old "Great Road" road through Sandisfield and Otis. This road was used by Henry Knox and countless others through "The Greenwoods." 

 

He retired from Mass. DCR after 42 years, is a long-term member of the Otis Historical Commission, and is one of the authors of the upcoming book, Ye Trodden Path. This talk will be held at the Monterey Library and will also be available to watch on Zoom. To register, head to the Bidwell House Museum website: https://www.bidwellhousemuseum.org/event/ye-trodden-path-2/

 

The exhibit and programs are sponsored in part by grants from Housatonic Heritage and the Friends of the Monterey Library.  Both programs are free and open to the public. Parking for the Monterey Library is limited and visitors can also park in the public lot behind the Monterey Town Hall.