COLRAIN — In the early 1800s, two weeks were needed to drive from Colrain to Boston, according to Daniel Clark, an old-time teamster who was quoted in “A History of Colrain Massachusetts.”
With lengthy travel times and a regular passenger stage route between Wilmington, Vt., and Greenfield, Colrain was once filled with taverns, inns, eateries and lodging houses.
On Thursday, Colrain native Brad Brigham will offer a glimpse of many of these once vital public houses, at the next program of the Colrain Historical Society. The program will be held in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House, at 8 Main Road. Brigham’s talk will begin at 7:30 p.m., following a business meeting at 7.
The event continues a season-long focus on transportation in Colrain.
“Throughout the years, the inns and taverns of the town were centers of activity,” according to the town’s history. A story attributed to a Mrs. Cram in the town’s history talks about Stark’s Hotel, on the Colrain/Vermont border, now a private residence.
Stark’s tavern was reputed to be right on the border of Colrain and Halifax, Vt., and since no alcoholic beverages could be sold at that time in Colrain, Colrain residents traveled to the “Vermont side” of the tavern to drink. And Vermont couples who couldn’t comply with Vermont marriage laws of the day came over to the “Colrain side” of the tavern, to have their ceremonies legally performed in Massachusetts.
But later, when the state line was surveyed, it was discovered that the entire tavern was in Colrain, and only the barn was in Vermont.
The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call Belden Merim at 413-624-3453.