The Hinsdale Academy, in Colonial design, was built in April, 1848, for use as an educational institute. The marble steps, leading to the veranda, are topped with wooden columns. This building was purchased by the town on January 14, 1867, and used as a public high school for several years, and now as a Town Hall. At present the first floor houses the Selectmens' and Assessors' rooms, and the Girl Scout and Boy Scout rooms. The upper floor has an auditorium of 200 person capacity.

      The Baptists who had been meeting in lofts, homes and taverns, built a small wooden church in 1816 on the flat, nearly opposite the Congregational Church. Elder Jackson was a leader. This building later became the home of the late Miss Harriet Roth, when a new, and larger building was erected on Water Street, now Main Street, in 1890, to "be near much water" for baptisms. This church closed its doors on Oct. 8, 1899. The building was being taken down about 1940 and was destroyed by fire.

      The Methodist Episcopal Church was built about 1825, of brick, next to the Congregational Church. The Methodists disbanded after the close of the Civil War. The house is now the home of William Campbell and his daughter, Mrs. John Record and family. The building was used for a time as a wheelbarrow factory and toy wagon shop, and in 1885, the rear housed a basket shop.

      St. Patrick's parish built a wooden building in 1852, and dedicated its church on September 19, 1869, with the Rev. A. Romano, assisting in the service. The Roman Catholics had suffered for many years the hardship of walking over Tully Mountain to Pittsfield to attend Mass at St. Joseph's Church. Masses were occasionally said in private homes. St. Patrick's was a mission of St. Joseph's until Father Romano came as a settled pastor in 1868. The Rev. Daniel Cronin, pastor from 1876 to 1906, left Hinsdale to become pastor of St. Agnes Church in Dalton. The present church was built for St. Patrick's in 1936 and the old edifice was taken down. First Mass in the new St. Patrick's Church was celebrated on July 18, 1937. The rectory, built about 1852, was destroyed by fire in January 1953, claiming the lives of the pastor, the Rev. James J. Courtney and his housekeeper, Mrs. Mary Moore. The parish bought the home of Dr. Edward J. Russell, school superintendent in Pittsfield, and converted it into a new rectory.

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