We started to research the history of the Lee Chamber of Commerce in 2022 and were surprised to learn that the Chamber was about to reach the ripe old age of 100. Nobody knew we were approaching such a momentous occasion. It was January 18, 1924, when an organization known as the Lee Businessmen’s Association decided it should become a Chamber of Commerce. Except for some quiet years during World War II, the organization has been serving the town ever since.
“Lee is a far better place to live and to do business because of its energetic Chamber of Commerce”
When founded, the Chamber took on a wide range of community improvement projects. Early reports show that they were helping to develop Sandy Beach at Laurel Lake, encouraging industry in Lee, striving to keep Jacob’s Ladder Road open in winter, pushing for regulation of billboards and helping establish street signage. After a busy first year the Chamber moved along to improved fire protection, new town ordinances, night phone service, rail crossing safety, and an improved Center Street bridge. Today’s Chamber has established a strong relationship with town government and sometimes may be concerned with similar issues, but the town has a far larger capacity to act on its own in the 21st century.
Business leaders helped to push through naming and numbering of streets in the 1920’s. At that time, businesses often advertised themselves as being “near the railroad depot,” or “two doors down” from some better-known establishment. They strayed into political matters in 1939, opposing Governor Saltonstall’s proposed tax on cigarettes, which was intended to reduce harmful health effects. However, Lee was then a major producer of cigarette paper, and the opposition reflected a concern for preserving local jobs. A Chamber speaker in a 1936 meeting at the Greenock Inn spread alarms about communism and other perceived social threats, reflecting the anxieties of the Depression era.
While maintaining its industrial and agricultural bases, the town was starting to realize its potential as a tourist destination by the 1920’s and 1930’s. Under the leadership of Carl Wurtzbach, the Chamber sent delegates to The New England Council (on tourism) and to the Berkshire Hills Conference. The Chamber prepared its first promotional brochure in 1937, printing 5,000 copies and mailing close to 700 to far away places like Florida and Oregon.
The first Lee Information Booth opened in 1939 under the direction of the Kiwanis Club. A new booth and Chamber operations would come in the 1950’s, and the charming little center we have today opened in 1999.
Today’s Chamber, in addition to helping to establish a business-friendly climate, does much to improve life and to burnish the town’s image. It maintains an active website (leechamber.org), publishes a town guide, coordinates Founders Weekend, promotes a restaurant week, supports Lee Pride activities, lines the Main Street with flowers in the summer, and installs lighting during the holiday season.
Lee is a far better place to live and to do business because of its energetic Chamber of Commerce, which has been serving the community for more than a century—and is still looking ahead.
PS
Phil Smith
This history was written by Phil Smith, a member of the Lee Historical Society, Chamber Board Member Emeritus, and former Executive Director of the Lee Chamber of Commerce. Phil has long been dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories that make Lee unique.
