Historian William Hosley will discuss the history and economic impact of the western New England’s “marble corridor.” As early as the 1780s, western New England stonecutters, discovering high quality marble in the Berkshires and Vermont, soon began exporting artfully finished products to points south and beyond. At its height the marble industry along the Taconic Range (today’s Route 7 corridor) was a beehive providing thousands of monuments, gravestones, and architectural features to buildings, cemeteries, and town squares. Rutland, Vermont, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Marbledale, Connecticut, were economically transformed by the stonecutting industry. The products they made were varied, artistic, and sophisticated. It was an art industry of national influence.

This event is sponsored by MountainOne Insurance.