Recent Stories
Beaver Mill
The Beaver Cotton Mill was first established in 1832 through a partnership between Major Lorenzo Rice and George Bly. The mill was situated on the meeting point between the Hoosac River and the Hudson Brook, where there was a massive beaver dam.…
Weber Brothers Shoe Company
The North Adams Shoe Company was established in North Adams in 1889 by the Weber brothers. The five brothers who created the company, due to their love of the trade along with their father’s skilled work in the shoe industry, were A. C. Weber,…
Norad Mill
The Norad Mill, located at 60 Roberts Drive, is one of the oldest surviving mill buildings in North Adams and now houses a variety of local businesses. Sanford Blackinton was president of the North Adams Woolen Company and one of the area’s…
Hunter Machine Company
The James Hunter Machine Company, one of North Adams’ most famous and successful companies, specialized in iron-working and machinery for use with textiles. The factory was originally situated at the intersection of Main Street and Route 8. The…
Clark Biscuit Company
The story of the H.W. Clark Biscuit company begins with its founder, H.W. Clark. In August 1876, H.W. Clark bought out the wholesale grocery firm of Col. John Leroy located on Ashland Street. Demand nationwide began to rise for more biscuits and…
Greylock Mill
The Greylock Mill was owned and operated by McLellan, Hunter & Co. which was established in 1846, producing cotton goods. After several changes in ownership, the entire property was purchased in 1857 by R. R. Andrews. He built additional…
Featured Stories
First Congregational Church
The First Congregational Church was established in 1827 after attempts to establish a church in the center of Adams (once including North Adams under the name of East Hoosuck) failed. The church is located on Main Street in North Adams, near the…
Arnold Print Works
Nestled between the north and south branches of the Hoosic River, the Marshall Street complex that now houses MassMoCA has played a major role in the history of North Adams. As the country entered the tumultuous years of the U.S. Civil War, the…
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
Michael Ryan was the first Irish Catholic to settle in North Adams, and he was the first of many. The population of Irish migrants in North Adams grew in years to follow, increasing even more after the Irish Famine of the 1840s. Religious bigotry…
Take a Tour
Historic North Adams
A project by Historic North AdamsHistoric North Adams is a free website and mobile app that puts North Adams’ history at your fingertips. Explore interesting people, places, and events in North Adams’ history, and take historical walking tours of the city. With a growing list of interpretive stories, each point on the interactive GPS-enabled map includes historical information about the location, along with historic images from archival collections and historical publications.
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