Days 78-80 Heading for Lee, Massachusetts

The next town on my US 20 journey is Lee, Massachusetts, 7.8 miles westerly from West Becket (not in a straight line, of course). As I learned passing through West Becket, the road is known as Jacob's Ladder because of its twists and turns. It's also designated as Jacob's Ladder Trail, a Scenic Byway.

Along the way, I pass the spot where the Appalachian National Scenic Trail crosses US 20, and close by is a parking area for the Trail.

You can see on the satellite view that the trail crosses US 20 and then takes a meandering course across I90 then down into the forest.

Days 74-77: Heading to Becket, MA and its village, West Becket

West Becket, Massachusetts is our next stop on US 20, 9.7 miles from Chester.  West Becket is a village or hamlet in the town of Becket, Massachusetts, which is in Berkshire County. You can see from the terrain map that we are definitely in the mountains.

There are a number of interesting sights along the way to Becket, including Becket Quarry and Sherwood Forest, but what caught my eye was a place called Jacob's Pillow, a geographical feature tucked up in the hills that is home to a dance academy by the same name. 

From Wikipedia article

Here is a video that tells the story of how the area became Jacob's Pillow from a biblical reference: History of Jacob's Pillow. This dance academy is famous for having mentored such well-known dancers as Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey. Earlier this month (July 2025) they held a celebration of the new Doris Duke Theatre, the original of which was burned some years ago: Celebration. And every year they have a dance festival. It seems like a really fun place!

Days 67-73: Next Stop--Chester

Back on the road! I'm traveling 16 miles down US 20, which brings me to Chester, MA, and a house outside of town at 272 Route 20. 

The house is fairly old (although nearly new by Massachusetts standards), having been built in 1880. In the vicinity, there are some interesting items to pay attention to.   

272 US 20 Chester, MA

Just down the street a bit, on the left hand side of the road, is a cemetery. It's called Chester Cemetery on the map, but apparently its name is Chester Factory Village Cemetery (AKA Huntington Street Cemetery). There is no public information about when this cemetery started, but the oldest grave seems to be that of Charles Bush, who was 1 year and 4 days old when he died in 24 October 1801. The stone is one of those old slate stones with the winged cherub emblem. The newest grave seems to be that of Donald Jane, who died nearly 200 years later, on 14 May 2001.

Chester Factory Village is, according to Wikipedia,

a historic district encompassing the historic village of Chester Factories in Chester, Massachusetts. Chester was settled in the 1760s, and the factory village was a location where water power was harnessed at an early time for grist mills and sawmills. The village got its name from the Chester Glass Factory, which operated in the area through the War of 1812. It benefited from the construction of a turnpike (now United States Route 20) leading to Chester Center in 1804, and was transformed by the arrival of the railroad around 1840.

Next stop: Becket, Massachusetts, about 6 miles down the road!