Bidwell Outside the House Hike
April 26 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Western Mass Hilltown Hikers Group Hike
Bidwell Outside the House Hike
April 26th at 10:00 am (approximately 3.5 to 4 hours)
Parking: 100 Art School Road, Monterey, MA 01245
Hike Rating: Easy to Moderate 3.5 miles loop with very little elevation
Join local historian Rob Hoogs on a hike through 18th and 19th century history following the 1760’s colonial Royal Hemlock Road and visit several cellar holes and a charcoal hearth. We will also follow the beautiful Loom Brook and cross the Boston-Albany Post Road all while listening to the history of the land we are traveling. The Bidwell House was built circa 1760 for the first minister of Township No. 1, the Reverend Adonijah Bidwell (1716-1784). He arrived in 1750 to be the first minister of this frontier region, which eventually became the towns of Monterey and Tyringham. The location of the house was the first town center of what was originally known as Housatonic Township No. 1. The Bidwell House was the parsonage, and the first meeting house, located at the crossroads of the Great Trail (the Boston-Albany Post Road) and Royal Hemlock Road, was a short walk from the house. Rev. Bidwell farmed the property from 1750 to 1784. His eldest son, Adonijah Bidwell Jr., developed the farm into a large and prosperous dairy farm, expanding the landholdings and building a compound of barns and out-buildings. His tenure was 1784-1836. The grandson, John Devotion Bidwell (1792-1867), continued to farm and also added a tanning yard. Please Note: Event does NOT include a tour of inside the house.
