The Copeland Farm

In the undated photo above, Edgar Copeland stands at the foot of Van Nuys Road on what is now the Scranton farm. A Civil War veteran, the young Copeland worked on farms in southern Vermont before buying the house and 160 acres which were to become perhaps the largest apple orchard in Colrain, once the apple capital of Massachusetts. 

Around 1875, Edgar set out 300 apple trees and many peach trees covering some 15 acres of the farm. Later he planted another 400 trees, mostly Baldwins. He introduced the Macintosh apple to the area and raised prize-winning Holstein cows.

Below is the original Copeland farmhouse, built along with the barn about 1740. The women and girl in the photo are unidentified. The house was replaced in the early 1900s (1912 - see newspaper clipping below) with the house now occupied by Mark Scranton. One of the old barns was in use until 1975.

Above source: [November 2024 issue of the Colrain Clarion.]

The Brattleboro New England Farmer

Saturday, June 12, 1909, page 6.

Halloween Extravaganza!

Welcome to the Colrain Historical Society’s Halloween Extravaganza! A Walk Through the Ages of Antique and Vintage Halloween. It is a partially narrated tour through a house fully decorated for the holiday with hundreds of items on display from the 1900s to the present. 

Please join us to celebrate Halloween and support our ongoing fundraising efforts to get our museum up and running! 

Cost: $25.00 

Dates: October 25th – 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm and 26th & 27th -12:00 pm to 9:00 pm 

Location: Shelburne Falls address. Exact location will be on your ticket!

Where to buy your tickets: 

 Catamount Country Store, Main Rd, Colrain 

 Pine Hill Orchards, Greenfield Rd, Colrain 

 Mo’s Fudge Factory, State St., Shelburne Falls 

Limited tickets available at the door. Call ahead if you need a ticket at the door: 413-624-8800. Please try to buy ahead of time.

Light refreshments will be served. Three vendors will be selling holiday items.

This is intended to be a review of Halloween through the 20th century, its traditions and how it was celebrated. This is not intended for children under 12. It is not a haunted or spooky house event.

If you have any questions, please contact Debby Wheeler 413-624-8800 or Deborahjeanwheeler@gmail.com. 

No photos will be allowed. No large purses or bags (Please leave them in your car.) Park at the town garage on Sears St. and walk a short distance to the house. The house is not handicapped accessible; there are stairs.

Top image: a vintage Halloween postcard.

Bottom image: a Jack-o-lantern wax candle.

Program: Colrain, Apple Capital!

How the apple got to Colrain, and what we did with it, will be the topic of the Colrain Historical Society’s October program. West County Cider’s Field Maloney will tell the story of the apple in Colrain from early settlement to the present. Colrain’s history has been rich in apples and cider and orchards for several centuries now. 

The program on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. will follow the business meeting and election of CHS Officers at 7 in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House. 

Refreshments will be served, including cider. 

The program is free and open to the public.

Photo above: Terry and Judith Maloney on Catamount with fresh glasses of their West County Cider, 2007.

Article from the Brattleboro New England Farmer in November 1910 stating the opinion of one Colrain apple grower that “the best apples in the world are grown in Colrain.”

Colrain and Hilltowns on Canvas - 5th Annual Show!

September 21 and 22, 2024, 10am to 4pm 

Cost of admission is $10.00. 

 The Colrain Historical Society will sponsor the fifth annual fundraising art show at the Shelburne Buckland Community Center, 53 Main St. in Shelburne Falls. 

As well as Colrain themed art, paintings showing our neighboring hilltowns will round out the display. Regionally famous painters will include George Gardner Symons, Steve Maniatty, Robert Strong Woodward, W. Lester Stevens and A. Hale Johnson among others. 

There will be over 50 paintings by 40 different artists. Most are works on loan from private collections and homes in the hilltowns. The artists are contemporary or deceased, famous and not so famous, as well as self taught. It is intentionally a non-curated show. The mixed media, skill of the artist and their prospective is part of the magic experienced when walking through the rows of art. Many of the paintings show a period of time long gone and people find themselves reminiscing about their family's past. 

We will also have prints and reprints of items in the Historical Society’s collection and old maps of our area for sale. 

Please join us again this year for a rare opportunity to see this bit of visual history.

The photo above shows a landscape painting by George Gardner Symons.

[Source: September 2024 issue of the Colrain Clarion.]