There were 40 families in town by 1774 when West Stockbridge was incorporated. The Congregational Church was organized in 1789 and its first building was the first church structure in the town. West Stockbridge men served the French wars in Canada and one of them escaped capture by the Indians only by hiding in a hollow log. The Indian scouts trailing him decided the log was empty when they saw a spider web covering the mouth of the log, and Nathaniel Wilson got away to return home and raise 21 children. David Bradley served in the Revolutionary War for 17 years and came home safe and sound to father 10 children in West Stockbridge. George W. Kniffen, who was born in Rye, New York, also had an interesting life.

Having moved to Massachusetts, he was elected to the legislature from Richmond in 1837 and 1848, and after moving again, he was elected to the legislature from West Stockbridge in 1857. Unlike many of the towns in Colonial days, West Stockbridge did not rely solely on agriculture as the foundation for its economy. Its fortune was under rather than on the surface and a number of quarries began operation very early in the town's history to excavate the fine marble and iron ore that were found in a couple of locations.

West Stockbridge Mass is located in Southwestern Massachusetts, bordered by Stockbridge on the east; Great Barrington on the south; Richmond on the north; Alford on the southwest; and Austerlitz, New York, on the west. West Stockbridge is about 13 miles south of Pittsfield; 55 miles west of Springfield; 142 miles west of Boston.