At a glance ...

Tuesday, February 20

Incorporated: 1775.

Settled: 1730.

Population: 1,345 (2000 U.S. Census); 1,356 (2005 town census).

Area: 18.95 square miles.

Elevation: 748 feet (average).

Average annual snowfall: 68 inches (estimated).

Median resident age: 44.7.

Median household income: $50,000 (2000 U.S. Census); national, $41,994.

Median family income: $60,104 (2000 U.S. Census, 2000).

Average house value: $419,083 (DOR, 2007).

Average property tax: $2,640, single-family home (DOR, 2007).

Unemployment rate: 3.5 percent; (December 2006).

Races: White, 1,323; black/African American, 1; American Indian/Alaska native, 1; Asian, 4; other races, 4; mixed races, 12; Hispanic/Latino, 14 (2000 U.S. Census).

Ancestries: Irish, 15 percent; English, 14 percent; German, 12 percent; Italian, 9 percent; Russian, 5 percent; Polish, 5 percent; French, 4 percent; Dutch, 4 percent; Scottish, 4 percent; Swedish, 3 percent; Welsh, 2 percent; Hungarian, 2 percent; Scotch-Irish, 2 percent; French Canadian, 2 percent; Norwegian, 1 percent; Ukrainian, 1 percent; Austrian, 1 percent; Lithuanian, 1 percent; Greek, 1 percent; Swiss, 1 percent; Canadian, 1 percent (2000 U.S. Census).

Town Web site:

href="http://www.egremont">www.egremont-ma.gov

The town ...

... was named for The Earl of Egremont (Charles Windham). ... is home to several celebrities, including retired Yankee baseball star and author Jim Bouton; journalist and blogger John Hockenberry ("The Blogenberry"), and Linda Ellerbee, who produces children's programming for Nickelodeon and other cable networks through her own company, Lucky Duck Productions. ... aggressively enforces speed limits, especially the 20-mph zone in the South Egremont village, causing some motorists to consider it a "speed trap." Police Chief Reena Bucknell has two full-time officers, with a vacancy for a third; there are six part-time officers. ... established The Egremont Free Library in 1893 through a $25 town appropriation. It is housed in the old Egremont Academy building, built as a school in 1830 and sold to the town in 1882 for town offices. The library, open limited hours four days a week, now occupies the entire first floor, with town archives on the second floor. The Mount Everett Cemetery adjoins the library; its oldest headstone is from 1803 and members of prominent Egremont families are buried there. ... has much of its farmland preserved through the state's APR program; the Egremont Land Trust is also active in seeking to preserve open space and put the brakes on development. ... has many residents who are self-employed at home-based businesses or telecommute, while others travel great distances to jobs in Albany, Springfield and Hartford.