Recent Stories
The Lion Twins
Twin lions guard the entrance to the Spruces Mobile Home Park. They serve as illuminated beacons to guide residents heading home on dark and stormy nights.
Some people say the concrete beasts originally came from the Mount Hope Farm. This is not…
When Boxes were a Booming Business in the City
It was in 1894 that F.E. Rice, a native of Charlemont and a resident of Florida, came down from the mountain and formed a partnership with E.A. McMillian and began a shoebox manufacturing facility on Washington Avenue to supply the booming local…
C.H. Cutting and Company
Twenty year old Charles H. Cutting formed a partnership with J.W. Silsby resulting in a men’s wholesale-retail clothing store which would last for 89 years. The C.H. Cutting Company opened in a modest building on State Street in 1870. Within a few…
Houghton School
The mid to late 1890’s was a banner time for the North Adams School System. Between 1896 and 1897, three new schools were built, Houghton, Brayton and Johnson Schools.
Houghton stood tall in the east end of the city on land purchased from the…
George Hadley -- "The Father of the Overpass"
Born in 1878 in Nyack, NY, he moved with his parents at age 6 to North Adams where his mother had roots. She was Ellen (Cady) Hadley, a member of one of the city’s oldest and most prominent families in town. His father was John C. Hadley.
In 1897,…
The Big Band Era in North Adams
John J. Fachini was the master of many Big Band shows during the age of the Depression. He promoted dances in the upstairs ballroom of the Wellington Hotel under the name of Johnny’s Dance Palace. On one such night 2,000 people showed up to see Rudy…
Featured Stories
Blackinton Cemetery
The Blackinton Cemetery located on Massachusetts Avenue is one of the oldest known burial grounds in North Adams. It was originally a 100-acre farm owned by Deacon Otis Blackinton. He was the father of Sanford Blackinton, whose mills served as 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…
Wigwam Western Summit
Native Americans were the first to travel along the Mohawk Trail, through the Northern Berkshires and between the Hudson and Connecticut rivers. Today, a scenic drive east from North Adams past the “Hairpin Turn” leads to a unique spot known as the…
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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