Post Kiln Period and the Appalachian Trail
Shortly after the establishment of the NPS in 1916, a regional planner named Benton MacKaye wrote “The Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning” for the Journal of the American Institute of Architects (MacKaye, 1921). His paper proposed a land management philosophy for the eastern mountain range of the nation and spurred enthusiasm to create the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) in 1925 by MacKaye and like-minded environmentalists.
The trail was constructed during the 1920s and was completed in 1937. The general route of the trail meandered north from Georgia to Maine through Berkshire County of Massachusetts. As a linear feature, Lacy and Roenke (1998) remark the trail passes through a variety of heritage sites, including those with industrial activities.
As the lime kiln faded from operation, the Appalachian Trail was being built across the Sheffield valley by the Berkshire Hills Conference in 1928 (Waterman & Waterman, 2019). An early description of the trail and kiln is found in The Guide to the Appalachian Trail in New England, published by the New England Trail Conference in 1933. The kiln is described in the guide as “(r)oad crosses low wooded range, descends, passing abandoned lime kilns on L” (NETC, 1933, p. 23). A few years later the Trail followed an unnamed dirt road by the “old deserted limekiln which is worth examining” (ATC, 1939, p. 113). Early hikers had the opportunity to observe the site shortly after operations ceased.
(see the early USGS maps from 9 August 2022 in this blog)
Personal note: since I was hiking without a map or guide, plus the summer vegetation blocked my view, I do not recall see the ruins. Above is a present day photo from the road, the previous route of the AT.
Eighty years later, evidence at the site indicates five kilns were in operation at any given time, and one kiln is presently in relatively fair condition. One other kiln has the base elements remaining and the three center kilns have essentially been entirely dismantled to rubble. While the presence of commercial fire bricks provides some date information, unfortunately, due to the proximity to a local road, many of the bricks have been carted away, presumably for neighboring chimneys.
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