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Ten years after Stockbridge was settled (1746), sections of land to the north known as Mt. Ephraim and Yokuntown were purchased from two Mahican sachems named Ephraim and Yokun. This area comprised most of what is today the Towns of Richmond and Lenox. In 1762 the area west of Yokun's Seat (Lenox Mountain) was set off as Mt. Ephraim, later to become Richmont in 1765. Primarily an agricultural community, its original layout consisted of roughly parallel north-south roads with perpendicular lots. A lack of available waterpower limited industrial development until. the early 19th century (1829) when the discover of iron ore on the Cone farm led to the development of important iron works which lasted into the 20th century.
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