If you’ve seen Norman Rockwell’s famous 1967 painting “Main Street, Stockbridge at Christmas,” then you know what Stockbridge looks like. The quintessential village remains virtually identical to Rockwell’s famous rendering even half a century later. Main Street is bookended by the brick post office to the left and the historic Red Lion Inn (established in 1773) on the right, both of which remain as if they were posing for the paintbrush of the town’s famous former resident.
Likewise the storefronts depicted in the painting still stand along the town’s main drag, separated by several alleyways, including the one down which Alice’s Restaurant, the inspiration behind Arlo Guthrie’s counterculture anthem, was found in 1967.
Like many visitors to Stockbridge, I’m heading through the small, picturesque downtown on my way to two of the Berkshires’ more notable attractions: the Norman Rockwell Museum, and Chesterwood, the former house and studio of famed sculptor Daniel Chester French. But because the town is so rich with history, I’m hoping to find much more.
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