Bernardston, Massachusetts

Bernardston is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,129 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.HistoryFalls Fight TownshipBernardston, Massachusetts, initially known as Falls Fight Township. was a frontier settlement created by and for the families of soldiers who had fought in King Phillips War specifically in the Battle of Turner's Falls a major engagement under Captain Turner in 1676. Major John Burke was an early settler of the town, his father was one of the veterans granted land in Falls Fight. In November, 1734, the following was presented to the General Court of MassachusettsThe petition was granted and the proprietors of the new township began recruiting 60 families to settle in the town. John Burke, Samuel Connable, Lieut. Ebenezer Sheldon, and Deacon Sheldon, built the first four houses, in 1738. They were of hewn logs, with port-holes in the walls for defence against the Indians.Pre-War Frontier DefencesAt his own expense, Burke built a stockade fort that stood "six rods on each side" . The stockade walls stood 12 feet high behind which the inhabitants in the vicinity repaired every night during the periods of Indian troubles. The fort contained eight homes, protecting the settlement during Indian attacks beginning in 1745 and later the French and Indian War.