North Chester Historic District

North Chester is a small village district in Chester, Massachusetts, set in a valley where the Middle Branch of the Westfield River runs northwest to southeast. Houses, barns, a chapel, a former schoolhouse, a cemetery with about 46 headstones, stone walls and an 1887 iron truss bridge are spread widely through a rural landscape of fields and woodland. Among the notable buildings are the Cushman Tavern of about 1773, the Greek Revival James Elder and John Stevens houses, the Gothic Revival Howe House of about 1860, and the 1909 chapel. The village grew around mills established by the Stevens family, later run by the Plunkett brothers, and around Elbridge Howe's bedstead factory. East River Road served as a main route between Pittsfield and Springfield, which supported an inn. Remains of mill dams and factory foundations give the area high archaeological potential. Little construction since 1909-1910 has preserved its 19th-century character.