Colrain Potash

“What was Potash?”
Colrain Historical Society

Thursday, May 14, 2015,  7:30 p.m.

at the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House on 8 Main Road, Colrain

As Colrain was being settled, potash was an important farm and home industry.  It was a dangerous, dirty and an entirely unpleasant business, which ended when all the land had been cleared.

Ralmon Black examining a colonial potash kettle. Photo credit: Cummington Historical Commission.

What was potash?  It will be the topic of a program of the Colrain Historical Society, Thursday, May 14, in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House on Main Road.   Ralmon Black will discuss colonial asheries, the first industry of the hilltowns, and how they affected the economy of those times and the land forever.  There was a Potash Hill in Colrain.

Black was raised on the one-horse ancestral farm in Williamsburg.  He retired in 2000 as a dairy specialist with  the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and serves the town of Williamsburg as a Historical Commissioner, Secretary of the Historical Society and town historian engaged in genealogical research on the first settlers of his town.

The program will begin at 7:30 p.m., following a business meeting at 7:00 p.m.  Refreshments will be served, and the public is welcome to attend. Free admission.  For information call Belden at 624-3453.