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From the time that an innkeeper was
anyone with hay for the horses and cider for the traveler, the town of
Egremont has been recognized as a place to pause and rest. For more
than 225 years, folks having been stopping at The Egremont Inn, one of
the few great structures in the Berkshires that is dedicated to the
traveler.
In 1780,
Francis Haere, an
Irishman who fought in three battles of the American Revolution, built
a tavern near the old Albany-Hartford Turnpike. Barely six years old,
the Tavern was a place of great excitement when the last battle of
Shay's Rebellion was fought and lost a little over a mile away on the
road between Egremont and Sheffield. Today a small stone shaft marks
the scene of this encounter. During the Revolutionary War and again
during the Civil War, The Inn was used as a mustering-in place and a
hospital.
Francis Haere sold the
tavern to his son, Levi, who in turn sold the it to William H. and
Jerome Hollenbeck in 1819. This was then the center of the village with
its store, post office and Tavern. Egremont was prosperous and some of
the influential townsmen decided in 1829 that there should be some
better means of education for their children than the common school.
They decided to build an academy near The Inn. The academy was not
finished on time, so Mr. Hollenbeck fitted up rude benches and desks in
his tavern and the school opened on schedule.
Some townspeople,
however, thought the influence of the Tavern was an undesirable
element. The tavern was purchased by a syndicate of leading villagers
in 1835 in order to make it a temperance house. Most people ignored it
and the idea failed. In 1857 Chester Goodale, who also ran the Goodale
Marble Quarry just over the line in Sheffield and near where Shay's
last battle was fought, purchased the building. Mr. Goodale enlarged
it, transforming it from an ordinary Tavern to a summer hotel and named
it The Mt. Everett House. In 1931 The Inn was sold to and restored by
the Olde Egremont Association.
Over the years, as the
business increased at this stagecoach stop, the building and services
expanded to what exists today: a classic New England Colonial inn with
20 guest rooms and suites, a public restaurant with live jazz and a
Wine Spectator award wine list, a spacious wraparound front porch,
tennis courts, pool and plenty of common space for guests and visitors
alike.
To this day, The Inn is
located just off the old Albany-Hartford Turnpike in the village of
South Egremont. While the hay for the horses is gone, there are still
refreshment and comfort for the traveler.
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