ew England, by virtue of having been settled before most other parts of the United States, enjoys some of the country’s most important and fascinating historical points of interest. Yet even in this vast cultural cornucopia, it is Western Massachusetts which has been blessed with a uncommon number of the places and names which form our collective historic memory. But many places in this country can and do possess historical significance, or harbor an important fact about where this country came from. It has been the ability and commitment of the people of Western Massachusetts to keep these places alive and thriving. As information outpaces the human processing ability, it will fall increasingly to these guardians of historic places to remind us of what is truly significant. From the dwellings of the great artists and intellects, to the lush gardens and cobbles of the Berkshires, residents and visitors would do well to seek out and experience these places, uniquely preserved and presenting a crucial link from past to future.

Think of this essay as the most skeletal of outlines for what Western Massachusetts can offer. There is no better way to experience the depth and breadth of the greens and golds of the Berkshires than to simply jump in the car and become immersed. Even as you use this "roadmap" to learn more, keep your senses and mind open and alert to the simple beauty of a rolling meadow over a stone fence, the charm of a tiny storefront knick-knack shop, the strangely familiar aroma of a Yankee pie recipe. Experience the history as you go along, relate it to your own impressions of what this country means to you and take simple pleasure in both the nostalgia and continuity.

Though alluding to a different paradise, locally born William Cullen Bryant may have been describing Western Mass when he wrote: "The hills, rock-ribb’d and ancient as the sun, the vales stretching in pensive quietness between; the venerable woods, rivers that move in majesty and the complaining brooks that made the meadows green…"

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• Arrowhead - Home of Herman Melville
  
• Colonel John Ashley House
  
• The Bidwell House
  
• William Cullen Bryant Homestead
  
• Chesterwood - Studio of Daniel Chester French
  
• Hancock Shaker Village
  
• The Merwin House
  
• The Mission House
  
• The Mount / Edith Wharton Restoration, Inc.
  
• Naumkeag
  
• Trustees of Reservations