The first newspaper published in North Adams was called The Socialist founded and edited by Dr. Ara Green and it began publishing on May 21, 1828.  It was printed on an old Franklin hand press in a building on North Church Street which was known as…

In the early summer months of 1947, North Adams’ first radio station, WKOB, went on the air. The idea was devised by three World War II veterans who arrived in this city during the winter of 1946. Their names were Everard Cureton, George W. Fisher…

Brayton was part of three school buildings constructed between 1897 and 1898. The other schools were Houghton and Johnson Schools. Brayton was on the west side of the city and facing Pine Cobble, was built very similar to Houghton School which was…

The idea of a new school on or around the State Street area began when Fire Chief H.J. Montgomery spoke to the school committee and stated that the State Street School, on the corner of Hooker and Francis Streets, was in “deplorable condition”. He…

Three years after the city of North Adams built Johnson, Brayton and Houghton Schools, it was deemed necessary by the school committee to expand yet again when it voted to build Freeman School on the corner of Estes and Eagle Streets. Estes Street…

The building of Johnson School began in 1896 and it was completed the following year. When it officially opened in September 1897, 313 students entered its doors. Grade 6 (41 students) and grade 5 (83 students) were each divided into two rooms…

Sometime prior to 1891, a school was built in the Greylock section to service children whose parents worked at the Greylock Mills. The school educated many young minds through the year 1927 when it closed due to the opening of the Parochial school…

In the aftermath of the Rice’s Corner fire in February 1916, a proposal by E.M. Loew was put forth to build a theater where the badly burned Bradford Block stood. The store owners in that block however were eager to rebuild their businesses and the…

Plans to erect a brand-new theater in downtown North Adams began with the Sullivan brothers in the early part of 1901.  They already owned the Wilson House and Sullivan Block, both on Main Street.  The Wilson House already had its own opera house,…

In the late 1800’s the growing Italian community in North Adams was mainly centered around the church, for both religious and social needs.  These first generation immigrants, however, did not have a church to call their own.  In 1900 an Italian…