Becket Center Historic District

Becket was first laid out by colonial settlers in the 1737, but was not settled until the 1750s, and was incorporated as a town in 1765. Its earliest civic structures include the Center Cemetery (1756) on the south side of YMCA Road, militia training and parade ground (at the junction of MA 8 and YMCA Road), the first meetinghouse (1762–64), now demolished, with the site marked north of the parade ground, and a stone animal pound (1768) on the west side of MA 8 that is the finest surviving pound in Berkshire County.^[2] The present Greek Revival First Congregational Church was built in 1850, across YMCA Road from the old meetinghouse, but the latter's 19th-century horse sheds were retained. The village's decline began after the 1841 construction of the Western Railroad bypassed it in favor of North Becket. As a result, the village retains a significant number of Federal and Greek Revival buildings, with relatively little subsequent development.^[3]

The historic district is geographically centered on YMCA Road, an east-west route joining Route 8 to Hamilton Road. The district extends along the latter two roads south from their junctions with YMCA Road, and a short way north on Hamilton Road. In addition to houses and the buildings already mentioned, the district includes an old post office, old town hall, and a former schoolhouse that has been converted to a residence.^[3]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Berkshire County, Massachusetts