Historical Notes 2026

The Spring 2026 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed recently. 

 Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

Daffodils in April in Colrain

November 2025 Update and Membership Drive

November, 2025

Dear Members and Friends, 

For the first time ever, we have a real Certificate of Occupancy, which means that we can open our doors as a museum once all the exhibits have been assembled. The shed between the museum house and barn on Main Road has been transformed, with skillful attention to period architectural detail, into a handicapped-accessible bathroom, using materials from the former Memorial Hall and the Methodist Church. That's historical recycling. 

Next up: re-structuring and insulating the space above the kitchen for use as climate-controlled storage for much of the CHS collection. These artifacts, photographs, textiles and documents donated by Colrain residents over more than 50 years tell Colrain's story, from its beginning on the 18 century frontier to the present. 

Meanwhile, the Curatorial Committee is organizing walls, lighting and exhibits for a first-floor opening, we hope, in 2026. There, you'll see an exploration of the historic villages of Colrain, a children's room exhibit, perhaps a country store and a 1950s kitchen. 

We're writing now, as we do each fall, to ask for your continuing support for this work and to meet ongoing expenses such as heating, insurance, and maintenance of our collection. 

Important! Mark your calendar for "A Colrain Christmas Potluck and Auction," December 6, 5-9 p.m., at the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center. You can donate items for the auction by contacting Debby Wheeler (deborahjeanwheeler@gmail.com; 413-624-8800).

We also hope you'll consider joining the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle by including the historical society in your estate planning as a steward of Colrain's history into the future. 

Please fill out the form below and return it in the enclosed envelope with your generous donation. 

Thank you, 

CHS Board of Directors 

Belden Merims, Bill Cole, Joan McQuade, Phil Sherburne, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, Cynthia Herbert and Joyce Root.

- - - - -

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society!

 **Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members.

Name: 

Address: 

email: 

Phone:

Please accept my donation of   ( ) $50   ( ) $100   ( )$250   ( ) $500   Other:$ 

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you! 

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, so all donations are deductible to the extent of the State and Federal tax regulations.

Historical Notes 2025

The Spring 2025 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed recently.

Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

Ancient maple tree and fresh daffodils on Adamsville Road in late April 2025.

November 2024 Update and Membership Drive

Click on the photos below to enlarge and read. 

November, 2024

Dear Members and Friends, 

We hope you've seen the elegant sign--Museum of Colrain History-- on the barn, freshly painted barn-red last summer by a lively crew from the county jail. 

What you couldn't see was a bevy of volunteers cleaning the barn and house while another bevy worked to inventory and digitize thousands of items in the collection, which is the repository of the material history of Colrain. Someday it will be the basis for a virtual museum of Colrain history.

While we work to achieve a certificate of occupancy for the physical museum, we will continue to offer free programs such as the recent apple history of Colrain, drawn largely from our archival collection, as well as engaging fundraisers such as last summer's sprawling garden tour.

And as we organize a refreshed museum in the former Pitt House and barn, we want to hear from you what you'd like to see in a Colrain-focused museum. We invite you to enclose a note about that with your contribution in support for an invigorated Colrain Historical Society, its collection, restored museum and popular programs.

We also invite you to join the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle, along with the late Hale Johnson and others, by including CHS in your estate planning.

Please fill in the form on the back of this letter and send it in the enclosed envelope with your generous donation.

Thank you, 

CHS Board of Directors

Belden Merims, Bill Cole, Phil Sherburne, Joan McQuade, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, and Cynthia Herbert

- - - - - - 

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society! 

**Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members. 

Name 

Address

Email

Phone 

Please accept my donation of ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 Other: $

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you!

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of State and Federal tax regulations.

Historical Notes 2024

The Spring 2024 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, will be mailed soon.

Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

November 2023 Update and Membership Drive

Click on the photos below to enlarge and read.

November, 2023

Dear Members and Friends,

In 1909, in Colrain, Estella Smith married Ralph Purrington in a white tulle and lace wedding dress. In 2023, their granddaughter in California sent us that dress and a portrait of the newlyweds, plus a photo of Ralph on the job on the Shelburne Falls-Colrain Electric Road (trolley).

That’s the stuff of the story of Colrain and of the people who lived here.

The Colrain Historical Society preserves and maintains an extensive collection of artifacts, photos (especially), documents and textiles that tell those stories. They will be told in the Museum of Colrain History (formerly known as the Pitt House) throughout our five buildings in Colrain center. Work to restore these buildings for a refreshed museum will continue in 2024. You can support us in this work by volunteering to help at the summer garden tour or the “Colrain and the Hilltowns on Canvas” in the fall or by working on the collection or in building maintenance.

Meanwhile, the collection will inspire programs next summer such as “Murder on Catamount” and Colrain’s Johnny Appleseed.

We hope you’ll consider joining the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle by including the Historical Society in your estate planning as a steward of Colrain’s history into the future.

We count on your support to meet ongoing expenses such as heating, insurance and maintenance. Please fill out the form on the back of this letter and return it in the enclosed envelope with your generous contribution.

Thank you,

Colrain Historical Society Board of Directors 

 Joan McQuade, Maria Kingsley, Phil Sherburne, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, Bill Cole, Belden Merims and Cynthia Herbert

- - - - - - 

I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society! 

**Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members. 

Name 

Address

Email

Phone 

Please accept my donation of ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 Other:$

Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you!

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of the Federal tax regulations.

Historical Notes 2022

The Spring 2022 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in earlyApril. Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

Historical Notes 2021

The Spring 2021 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed to members in late April. Click here for a PDF version. Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

Historical Notes 2020

The Spring 2020 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in mid April. Click here for a PDF version. Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

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Historical Notes 2019

The Spring 2019 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in late April. Click here for a PDF version. Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

Historical Notes 2018

The Spring 2018 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in late April. Click here for a PDF version. Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

Historical Notes 2017

The Spring 2017 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in late March. Click here for a PDF version. Click on the photos below to view a larger image.

Historical Notes 2016

The Spring 2016 edition of Historical Notes, the periodic newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in April. Click here for a PDF version (2.54 MB.)