By Atherton P. Mason, M.D.


In the old Bay State there is no elevation of surface that really
deserves the name of mountain, but yet some of the more lofty eminences
rejoice in this appellation which serves to distinguish them from their
lesser brethren, the hills. In this paper, however, let us start on the
assumption that all the elevated points in the State that are worthy of
having received a name, from Saddle Mountain downwards, are hills. This
uniformity of nomenclature surely will not detract from the almost
sublime grandeur of Greylock and Wachusett any more than it will enhance
the picturesque beauty of Sugar Loaf, or the Blue Hills of Milton.

There are three rather lofty and extensive ranges of hills crossing
Massachusetts. The most western of the three is the Taconic range, which
is upon the very border of the State. East of this, across a valley
several miles wide, is the Hoosac range, which occupies eastern
Berkshire and the territory between this almost Alpine county and the
winding Connecticut. Still east of this is the hilly belt of country
comprising eastern Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties, and the
whole of Worcester County, to which range no particular name has been
given. The Hoosac and Taconic ranges may be considered as a portion of
the great Appalachian system of eastern North America, of which the
Green Mountains of Vermont are a continuation; while the third hilly
belt may be regarded as a side-show, so to speak, to the main exhibition
of nature's mighty upheavals. In this belt Wachusett is by far the
grandest elevation, and Worcester County may well be proud of the
majestic pile in her midst; but as it has been so recently described in