These Mysterious Hills

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History, mystery and folklore in the Berkshires and surrounding area.* (and anything else I feel like posting about)

*Page managed by Home Historian and award-winning history columnist Joe Durwin

I guess these are the kind of comments that happen when whole aspects of our history are omitted [erased] for generation...
06/02/2026

I guess these are the kind of comments that happen when whole aspects of our history are omitted [erased] for generations.

Thanks to Jeffery, this exposé is now free w/ no paywall for all of Pride month

New on Patreon this week- Pontoosuc Is Not a Man-Made Lake; Drag was huge in the Berkshires 100 years ago; and: A forgo...
06/02/2026

New on Patreon this week- Pontoosuc Is Not a Man-Made Lake; Drag was huge in the Berkshires 100 years ago; and: A forgotten homicide case from a lost Pittsfield street.

A burning cross explodes at midnight in the small town of Monterey, Mass [pop: ~300] a hundred years ago. Berkshire Eagl...
06/02/2026

A burning cross explodes at midnight in the small town of Monterey, Mass [pop: ~300] a hundred years ago. Berkshire Eagle, June 1, 1926

There's a mostly overgrown trail at the end of where Mervyn Street peters out; that's where the hermit used to have his ...
06/01/2026

There's a mostly overgrown trail at the end of where Mervyn Street peters out; that's where the hermit used to have his little house at the edge of the swamp, and that's where Peter Persump was shot to death.

The first drag shows I could find in the Berkshires date to 1892. Over the next forty years these became increasingly po...
06/01/2026

The first drag shows I could find in the Berkshires date to 1892. Over the next forty years these became increasingly popular in local venues. Then it all went away.

Now online for subscribers, all new research unpacks the extraordinary history of gender fluid performance : https://www.patreon.com/posts/159812177

05/30/2026

The biggest drag queens in the world were all here in the early 1900s, at venues like Barrington stage company (Union Square) and the Colonial theatre.

Debunking the legend that Pontoosuc Lake was created by early colonizers in 1733, and other nonsense of the AI age
05/29/2026

Debunking the legend that Pontoosuc Lake was created by early colonizers in 1733, and other nonsense of the AI age

Using AI for Local History Research Will Make You Look Dumb by THESE MYSTERIOUS HILLS on Patreon. Join THESE MYSTERIOUS HILLS's community for exclusive content and updates.

A glittering new world came to the Berkshires a century ago, exploding onto local stages in a profusion of jeweled gowns...
05/29/2026

A glittering new world came to the Berkshires a century ago, exploding onto local stages in a profusion of jeweled gowns and terrifically expensive wigs. A spectacle of camp and commentary, of gender subtext that danced at the border of danger. It was a shimmering cultural revolution, balanced precariously on a razor's edge.

Check out the Berkshire Eagle weekend edition for the reconstruction of a rich piece of local history that's long been buried, as BBerkshire Pridefestivities kick off here tomorrow, May 30-

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Pittsfield, MA
01245

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