Town Edition
Berkshire County
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Photo: Daderot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
In March 1886, a generator in an old rubber mill on Cottage Street lit up Main Street, and Great Barrington became the first place on earth to prove that alternating current could travel a distance and then power a town. The town still decides how it runs itself in a room you already know. Every spring, any registered voter can stand up in the Monument Mountain Regional High School auditorium and vote the town budget and the school assessment directly. That is open Town Meeting, and it is the real legislature here. On May 12, 2026, 1,037 residents out of 5,220 registered voters filled the Selectboard seat, the Moderator’s chair, the Board of Health, the Planning Board, the Library Trustees and the Finance Committee for a town of 7,172, and the same ballot decided a two million dollar operating override, which residents turned down 631 to 397. Roughly one voter in five settled all of it, which tells you what a single ballot is worth here. This guide shows you where the rooms are and how to get into them.
Great Barrington at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Berkshire. Great Barrington covers about 45 square miles in the southern Berkshires along the Housatonic River, and residents still name its parts: the village of Housatonic, Van Deusenville and the downtown Main Street center.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Selectboard and an appointed Town Manager, Liz Hartsgrove.
- Schools: the Berkshire Hills Regional School District, which Great Barrington shares with Stockbridge and West Stockbridge, about 1,086 students, led by Superintendent Peter W. Dillon.
How Great Barrington’s Government Works
Great Barrington runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Great Barrington is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Selectboard to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Selectboard hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Selectboard, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Great Barrington is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Selectboard
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Manager.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Selectboard. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
The regional Berkshire Hills committee holds 10 seats, elected by the voters of Great Barrington, Stockbridge and West Stockbridge. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Selectboard and the School Committee.
- The Selectboard hires the Town Manager and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Selectboard: meets on the second and fourth Monday of most months at Great Barrington Town Hall, 334 Main Street, usually starting in the early evening. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring in the Monument Mountain Regional High School auditorium, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The Moderator, Michael Owen Wise, presides.
- Town elections: Great Barrington votes in the spring, across four precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Tuesday May 12. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Great Barrington Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- SelectboardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Great Barrington History1761, Du Bois, and the current that lit Main Street
- DemographicsWho lives in Great Barrington
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataGreat Barrington schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Berkshire County, and that includes Great Barrington. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Great Barrington
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Selectboard. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Selectboard meets on the second and fourth Monday of most months at Great Barrington Town Hall, 334 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Know your members. Five Selectboard members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 334 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Main line 413-528-1619, Town Manager’s Office extension 2900.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-528-1619, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at townofgbma.gov.
- Public schools: Berkshire Hills Regional School District, 413-298-4017, bhrsd.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Selectboard, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.