Editing Monterey, Massachusetts (section)

== History ==
[[Image:Monterey Town Center.jpg|thumb|left|Monterey General Store, with the post office to the right]]
Prior to settlement by European-American colonists, the area of Monterey was inhabited by [[Mahican]]s, the local [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribe. Monterey was first settled by colonists in 1739 as a part of Housatonic Township Number One. The township had two villages, along Hop Brook to the north (modern [[Tyringham, Massachusetts|Tyringham]]) and [[Konkapot River]] in the south (modern Monterey). The town was officially incorporated as Tyringham in 1767. In the earliest days of 1776, General [[Henry Knox]] passed through the town, bringing cannons from [[Fort Ticonderoga]] in New York to aid in ending the [[Siege of Boston]]. Today, the path he took is known as the [[Henry Knox Trail]]. However, the long divide between the two towns led to their separation in 1847. Previously called Green Woods or South Tyringham, the local people voted to name the new town Monterey to commemorate the [[Battle of Monterey]] that took place a year earlier in the [[Mexican–American War]]. Palo Alto and Buena Vista were also considered, but thought to be "too foreign sounding".<ref>{{Cite news | last = Matthews | first = Richard | title = Proper Names: An appellative atlas of the Berkshires | newspaper = Berkshire | pages = 32 | date = October–November 1991 }}</ref> The town was mostly known for its sawmills, but today it is a rural community, known more for its recreational areas in the state forests and along Lake Garfield.