The Town of Tyringham, a valley town in Berkshire County, was formally incorporated in 1762 as Plantation #1.  But the community is one of four whose history begins in 1735 when the Great and General Court voted to create townships to provide some protection for the wilderness trail that was at that time the main route between the lower Housatonic Valley and the Connecticut Valley and Boston.  Development of towns along and beside the route was expected to make using the trail less dangerous and more comfortable.  The Court laid out house lots of between 40 to 80 acres and allocated one to each of the 63 original settlers.  Tyringham had considerable good farming land even though the town is crossed by two heavy ranges of hills.  

Scandal erupted in Tyringham early in its history, when the townspeople in 1808 voted to dismiss their minister, Joseph Avery, after 19 years of service.  Avery sued and won reinstatement, and historians note the case created the legal principle that ministers hold their tenure for life unless they leave by mutual agreement.  But church members refused to pay taxes for Avery's support which in turn led to the formation in 1809 of a society of parishioners  who voluntarily pledged their financial support for their church and minister.  This later became one of the models for church support everywhere. 

Tyringham is said to have been given its name by Lord Viscount Howe a few days before he fell at the battle of Ticonderoga, after a town in England in which he owned an estate.  

Hop Brook in Tyringham is considered by sportsmen to be one of the five best trout streams in the country and President Grover Cleveland, visiting friends with his wife at a summer home in Tyringham, fished Hop Brook, although it is not recorded whether he caught anything. 

Along with summer homes and estates of the wealthy, the 19th century also saw the development of paper mills in 1832, rope factories and cider mills. These along with farming served as the foundations of the town's economy. 

In the 20th century, industry has largely departed, and the town is known as a rural residential community which still serves as the home of wealthy and famous summer residents and visitors.