Monument Mountain

Object Type: Folder
In Folder: Trustees: Our Properties

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Monument Mountain

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Property: Monument Mountain

Title: Monument Mountain

Description: Monument Mountain is a 503-acre property in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The original acreage was a gift from Miss Helen C. Butler in 1899, with additional acres acquired in the 1980s. The 1,642-foot summit of Squaw Peak affords hikers views of the southern Berkshire mountain range and the Housatonic River Valley. The mountain has inspired artists through the ages, including several 19th-century literary giants. William Cullen Bryant’s lyrical poem, entitled “Monument Mountain” tells the story of a Mohican maiden whose forbidden love for her cousin leads her to leap to her death from the mountain’s cliffs. On August 5, 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville enjoyed a well-chronicled picnic hike up Monument Mountain. A thunderstorm forced them to seek refuge in a cave where a lengthy and vigorous discussion ensued, inspiring powerful ideas for Melville’s new book, Moby Dick, which he dedicated to Hawthorne.

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Monument Mountain Collections

10/21/16, 6:04 PM

Monument Mountain Photographs, 1899 to Today

10/24/16, 2:03 PM