Town Edition
Berkshire County
Tyringham, Massachusetts
Photo: Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In about fifty one minutes one evening in May 2026, Tyringham’s voters worked through all sixteen articles on their Town Meeting warrant and passed every one of them without a single no: a $1.9 million town budget, an easement so the state can replace the Jerusalem Road bridge, and $2,734 for the town kennel. No committee in another building made those calls. In Tyringham the whole government of the town fits in one room, and every hand raised in it belongs to a neighbor. About 411 people live here, in a narrow Berkshire valley with a brook running through the middle of it, and they have been settling the town’s business face to face like this since 1762. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Tyringham at a Glance
Sources: Secretary of the Commonwealth, voter enrollment · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Berkshire. Tyringham is a small hilltown in the south of the county, set in a narrow valley with Hop Brook running through the center, between Lee to the north and Monterey to the south. It covers about 18.6 square miles and has no stores, restaurants, or banks of its own.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Molly Curtin-Schaefer.
- Schools: Tyringham runs no school of its own and tuitions its students into the Lee Public Schools, about 648 students, led by Superintendent Michael Richard.
How Tyringham’s Government Works
Tyringham runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Tyringham is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 3 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and a School Committee that watches over the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Tyringham is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
3 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, serve as the Board of Health, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
3 members, elected town-wide by Tyringham voters. Even though the town runs no school of its own, this committee watches the tuition money and speaks for Tyringham students in the Lee schools.
- Residents elect the 3 members of the Select Board and the 3 members of the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator 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
- Select Board: meets monthly on a published calendar at Tyringham Town Hall, 116 Main Road. Dates and start times are posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in May, a few days before the town election, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Tyringham votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 18. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Tyringham Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Tyringham HistoryJane Tyringham, the Shakers, and 1762
- DemographicsWho lives in Tyringham
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataLee 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 Tyringham. 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 Tyringham
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 Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets monthly at Tyringham Town Hall, 116 Main Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All three Select Board 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: 116 Main Road, Tyringham, MA 01264. Town Administrator’s office 413-243-1749 ext. 101.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-243-1749 ext. 103, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at tyringham-ma.gov.
- Public schools: the Lee Public Schools, reached through the town’s own schools page at tyringham-ma.gov.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.