Barefoot Boys

Howes Brothers photo, courtesy of the Colrain Historical Society.

In this 1894 Howes Brothers photo, men, women and girls worked in the Griswold cotton mills in what became Griswoldville beginning in the 1830s, and in Lyonsville later as well. 

The mills, founded by the remarkable Joseph Griswold and his wife Louisa, were for more than 100 years the town’s largest employer, and its tax base. As demand for its cotton products ramped up during the Civil War, Griswold recruited entire families from Quebec to man the water-powered mills, and built a large brick tenement to house them, later adding many of the houses we see in Griswoldville today. ​

In 1932, the Griswold Mfg. Co. was sold to the Kendall Company, at its peak employing some 500 men and women. Mostly Colrain residents and neighbors, generations spent their whole working lives together in the mills. The company changed hands again in 1986 to a succession of companies, and in 2023, Barnhardt Manufacturing, with 31 employees, closed what was left of the mills.

[Source :  Belden Mirims and the April 2025 issue of the Colrain Clarion.]

June 16, 1932 article in the Greenfield Daily Recorder about the sale of the Griswoldville Manufacturing Company to the Kendall Company.

The Griswold Legacy

Prentice Crosier presents a look at the Griswolds, Colrainers who had vision and energy, and left a legacy we still benefit from today. Wednesday, March 19th at 6:00 p.m. at the Griswold Memorial Library.

Lost Nation film being shown in Shelburne Falls

 Lost Nation, a film by director Jay Craven, will be shown at the Pothole Pictures movie theater in Memorial Hall in Shelburne Falls on Friday, February 21, and Saturday, February 22. Both shows start at 7:30 pm. Jay Craven will discuss the film and answer questions following the Saturday evening show.

Lost Nation was partially filmed in Colrain in April, 2022.

A scene from the movie shot on Adamsville Road on the banks of the West Branch River in Colrain, MA.

2025 Calendars Now on Sale

Front cover of the 2025 CHS calendar

The Colrain Historical Society has captured 14 of the vivid paintings from the “Colrain and Hilltowns on Canvas” exhibition last Fall in a 2025 calendar which is now available for $15. The calendar will make a great holiday gift!

You may purchase it at 

Catamount Country Store, 113, Main Rd, Colrain, MA

Pine Hill Orchards, 248 Greenfield, Rd, Colrain, MA

Hager’s Farm Market, 1232 Mohawk Trail ( Route 2), Shelburne, MA

Nancy Dole Books, 20 State Street, Shelburne Falls, MA

The calendar size when open is 17” x 11”.

Back cover of the calendar

The artists, images, and locations are

Front cover, A. Hale Johnson, The Sled

January, Robert Emmett Owen, Shelburne Center

February, Robert Strong Woodward, A Winter’s Day, Buckland

March, Shepard Klar, Sugaring, Conway

April, Denis Bordeaux, Catamount Bobcat

May, Albert Maguire, The Lineup, Windswept Farm, Colrain

June, JoAnne Sherburne, Summerfield, the Dude Ranch, Colrain

July, Fred Burrington, Waiting to Smell Roses, Foundry Village, Colrain

August, Cynthia Herbert, Summer’s Day at Keldaby, Heath Rd, Colrain

September, David Brewster, Tumble In, Barber Hill, Colrain

October, W. Lester Stevens, Pumpkin Hollow, Conway

November, Joseph Baker, Martin Farm, West Leyden Rd, Colrain

December, Robert Steinem, Wild Raspberries, Colrain

End page, Ingrid Greenberger, Old Homestead, Ed Clark Rd, Colrain

Pile of calendars at Catamount Country Store

Copies of Industries and Occupations of Colrain are also available for sale for $20.