Great Barrington

best small town in America

Clodkwise from top left: Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Berkshire Busk! jazz quartet performance, friends gather on Railroad Street after dinner.

It’s the Rome of the South County.

Home to 7,100 people, Great Barrington is the southern Berkshires’ business and cultural hub. Visitors come for the fun shopping, superb restaurants, world-class entertainment, year-round outdoor recreation, and the recreational (and medical) cannabis dispensary that opened a year and a half ago Theory Wellness. The dispensary, which was the first such shop to open in the Berkshires, has been a hit (so to speak) with customers who like their weed legal and carefully sourced—and there are millions of them within driving distance who lack legal access to this popular herbal remedy in their home states. In the past year, four more have opened in Great Barrington. Three of them—woman-owned Calyx, Farnsworth Fine Cannabis and Great Barrington Recreational Cannabis are right downtown on Main Street, and a fourth—Rebelle—is on Route 7 just south on town. Not all residents are happy about the “Best Small Town in America,” as Smithsonian Magazine named it in 2012, becoming “the pot capital of the Northeast.” Others point to the millions of dollars that have flowed into town coffers from a 3% municipal tax and a 3% community impact tax on cannabis sales.

Great Barrington was founded in 1766, and its historic districts and quaint residential neighborhoods are within walking distance of open spaces. This is the birthplace of civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois, and an outdoor interpretive trail at his boyhood homesite is open to visitors.

Great Barrington is blessed with a number of lively performing spaces which makes the town into an entertainment mecca. The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, is the anchor for the cultural life of the town with a full schedule of music, theater, films and other events. Church-turned-performancespace Saint James Place is now open for gatherings, events, and performances. The Guthrie (as in Arlo) Center on Division Street, a place to enjoy intimate folk concerts, still has a limited summer schedule. The Triplex Cinema downtown, where three screens have grown into four, is open again. Great Barrington is home to Bard College at Simon’s Rock, an innovative fouryear liberal arts “early college” plus Bard Academy for ninth

and tenth graders. Berkshire Community College also has a presence in town. The nearby village of Housatonic features renovated mill buildings, dance studios and art galleries.

Great Barrington was a local pioneer in the farm-to-table movement, and wonderful restaurants are scattered throughout town. All restaurants are serving, following Massachusetts re-opening guidelines, including Baba Louie’s, Prairie Whale, Café Adam, the solar-powered Barrington Brewery and Restaurant, and Number 10 adjacent to the Mahaiwe. Meet friends for coffee or tea and a bite at Rubi’s, Fuel, and Patisserie Lenox, all on Main Street, or ExtraSpecialTeas on Elm, or the new twoflower café and bakery on Railroad Street. Or for a drink with light fare at Mooncloud on Railroad Street or Miller’s Pub on Main Street. The Berkshire Food Co-op in its new downtown digs on Bridge Street and Guido’s on Route 7 south of town are both open seven days a week year round for top-notch produce, meat, fish and more. Soco Creamery, on Railroad Street, serves great local ice cream. Or Robin’s Candy on Main for your sweet tooth. Again this summer, Railroad Street, right downtown, will limit traffic on Friday and Saturday evenings so local restaurants can serve al fresco. And Barrington Courtyard, through the arcade of the Barrington House building on Main Street, has set up a friendly outdoor eating plaza where Tangier Café, Miller’s Pub, GB Eats, STEAM and Fiesta Bar and Grill are serving, with Baba Louie’s for pizza in its own outdoor space just adjacent. New this year: live street

Long-blooming Hydrangea, Rudbeckia, Coneflower & Fruiting Shrubs to Support Birds & Wildlife

Friday and Saturday night dining on the partially closed Railroad Street.

Full Service Wedding Venue

Ward’s Nursery & Garden Center - 600 Main St - Gt. Barrington Open Daily - 413-528-0166 - wardsnursery.com

Weddings & Rehearsal Dinners ~ Booking 2022/2023

From left: window shoppers at Crystal Essence, Yellow House Books. Below: Black Lives Matter mural spearheaded by Dorree Ndooki and funded by the Railroad Street Youth Project in an alleyway off of Main Street.

musicians on weekends, thanks to Berkshire Busk!. And the Town of Great Barrington Summer Concert Series continues Friday evenings through August at the gazebo behind Town Hall. Cruise Main and Railroad for charming owner-run shops, such as Lennox Jewelers for jewelry and watches, Griffin for clothing and gifts, and Emporium and Antique Soul for vintage jewelry and collectibles. Original art can be found at the Lauren Clark and Vault galleries, as well as Bernay Fine Art. Craft stores One Mercantile, Evergreen, and the new branch of An American Craftsman display pieces by artisans from the Berkshires and around the world. Books new and old can be found at The Bookloft (in new quarters on State Road) and Yellow House Books, respectively. Two long-time Railroad Street favorites—The Gifted Child and Church Street Trading Co.—closed this year, but two interesting pop-up shops— Workshop for local creative work and Westerlind for outdoor wear have arrived. And the Flying Church is finally open. (Ask a local to explain.)

Great Barrington is becoming a mecca for home furnishing shops and design studios. Wingate, opened in 1998 just north of town on Route 7, has grown to become one of the biggest home furnishings and design showrooms in the Berkshires. Sett, a tabletop shop, is on Main Street. Samantha Gale Designs is also on Main, showcasing “the vintage beauty of the farmhouse style.” Just off Main is Hammertown, offering furnishings, “approachable design services,” and more. Destination Design Center on South Hillside Avenue designs and installs kitchens, baths, cabinets, and window treatments, among other things. Find new fixtures for your kitchen and bath at Waterware on Crissey Road just north of town and at S & A

Riverfront Trail—Great Barrington Land Conservancy’s newest community trail is open dawn to dusk, year-round.

Showplace at 40 Maple Drive just southwest of town.

Interior design studios are also prominent in the downtown landscape. William Caligari Interiors is a full-scope design studio, servicing clients in the Berkshires and beyond. Sue Schwarz operates her design studio Gallery 315 Home from a new office in Saint James Place. British-born fabric guru Jennifer Owen works out of her eponymous design studio on Railroad Street, and Jess Cooney has opened a new studio on State Road. Are you contemplating a makeover? Professionals are standing by.

Now get up out of that designer easy chair and get some exercise! Hike up Monument Mountain north of town or try the Housatonic River Walk, a national recreation trail. Work out at the Kilpatrick Athletic Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock or the Berkshire South Regional Community Center. Both facilities are open with some mask and reservation requirements. Take dance classes at Berkshire Pulse in the village of Housatonic. But, whatever exertions you may undertake, if you should sprain an ankle, or have a more serious medical emergency during your stay, Great Barrington’s award-winning Fairview Hospital and its efficient ER are there to help.

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