Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainA Family Plot on the Skyline Trail With a Stone Marked Only 'IT'
Middlefield, MA
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free; accessible via Skyline Trail. Situated behind Middlefield Town Hall.
Access
Limited Access
Unpaved trail approach; uneven ground. Cemetery is a small clearing near the wood line.
Equipment
Photos OK
Rural New England Burial History · Itinerant Labor History
Mack Cemetery sits in a clearing at the northern tree line behind Middlefield's town offices, positioned off the Skyline Trail in Hampshire County's western Berkshire hills. It is a small family plot, distinguishable from the surrounding woods mainly by its scattered stones and a descriptive plaque posted near the road.
The cemetery's most discussed feature is a single marker in the far left corner, near a large tree, bearing only the hand-carved letters 'IT.' No name, no date, no other inscription.
Oral tradition in Middlefield attributes the grave to an itinerant laborer — a man who came to town looking for farm work and died during winter months before anyone had learned his name. Per this account, the body was kept frozen in a barn until the ground thawed enough to permit burial. The inscription 'IT' marked the spot because no other identifier was available.
A competing theory holds that the lettering was carved into an existing — possibly original — headstone around 1986, coinciding with the publication of Stephen King's novel of the same title. According to this account, the stone was vandalized and the original inscription, if any, was altered or obscured.
The town of Middlefield and its historical resources have not, to the knowledge of sources located during research, issued a definitive statement on the stone's origin. The Roadside America entry for the site notes that the inscription is 'nearly unreadable,' suggesting the carving is either quite old or has been exposed to significant weathering.
Sources
The mystery of the 'IT' stone operates on a specific frequency of unease — not the documented violence of other sites but the erasure of identity. Whoever is buried in the far left corner of Mack Cemetery was unknown enough that their grave could be marked with a word that functions more as a pronoun than a name.
Roadside America lists the site and notes visitor accounts that vary on interpretation. Some find the stone sorrowful; others find it unsettling in a way that resists easy description. The nearby abandoned house, across the street from the town offices, amplifies the general atmosphere. The Shadowlands report describes 'evil vibes' from the house and a sense of being watched throughout the area, though no specific paranormal events are documented.
The Stephen King angle — the 1986 vandalism theory — has given the stone a layer of pop-cultural association that may or may not reflect its actual history. Whether the 'IT' was carved by a grieving community honoring an unknown man, or inscribed by a teenager with a paperback, has never been resolved.
The cemetery appears on the WikiTree genealogical database, confirming it as a documented burial site. The Skyline Trail access makes it a genuine destination rather than a remote curiosity.
Mack Cemetery sits behind Middlefield Town Hall along the Skyline Trail, in a small clearing at the tree line. The family plot contains a handful of stones, including one in the far left corner bearing only the carved letters 'IT.' A descriptive plaque is posted near the road. The abandoned house across the street is private property.
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