A Path to Partnership
The Westover-Bacon-Potts Farm, just north of the Appalachian Trail in western Massachusetts, reflects more than 200 years of agricultural practices in the Berkshires. Cooperation among local and regional partners ensures that this special place will continue to thrive for decades to come.
by CARISSA DEMORE Team Leader for Preservation Services
F
rom a sharp bend in the Appalachian Trail as it traverses Jug End a mile north of Mount Bushnell, a hiker can look out across a scenic expanse of rocky outcrops, forested hillsides, and agricultural fields interspersed with the small towns that characterize the Berkshire Valley in Massachusetts. Following the trail a couple of miles to the east, down into the valley below, the historic Westover-BaconPotts Farm stands in Egremont
adjacent to the trail as a reminder of an agrarian past and a tangible connection to the preservation and conservation priorities of future generations. Stretching more than 2,000 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, the Appalachian Trail is a 100-year-old hiking path that more than 1,000 hikers traverse annually, as well as millions of local and regional explorers who feel called to take a walk in nature. But rather
than insulating hikers in untouched wilderness, the Appalachian Trail has always intentionally connected its visitors to a variety of cultural experiences—at times inspirational and at times confrontational. The very goal of its creation—as envisioned by New England planner and forester Benton MacKaye in a 1921 article published in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects titled “An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning”—was to challenge the economic and HistoricNewEngland.org
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