Joe Sharkey was the patriarch of a family of two sons and four daughters, 15 grandchildren and one great grandchild at the time of his death, December 13, 1970. In his younger years he was a shoemaker employed by local shoe shops and later as the…

Central Bowling Lanes shared the top floor of the Martin Block with the Sons of Italy Lodge; two floors above the C. H. Cutting Company store on the corner of Main and State Street.  The owner and proprietor was Clyde Lentine who had purchased the…

It was during the middle decades of the past century when Ted Butterworth owned and operated the Olympian bowling alleys in the Dowlin Block on Main Street. This place was a large, dingy, smoke-filled, dark and cavernous expanse of floor space on…

Originally independent in crowning a Fall Foliage Festival Queen and connected with the ever popular fashion show, the Scholarship Pageant, to name Miss Northern Berkshire, Queen of the Fall Foliage Festival, soon affiliated with and followed the…

The end of World War I did not come all at once; rather it occurred over a period of several days.  There had been false reports during the first week of November that the war was about to end as the news services had received word from Germany of…

The Blizzard of ‘88 was the greatest snowstorm of the nineteenth century in Berkshire County.  Snow started falling Sunday, March 11, 1888, and did not stop until four days later. A total sum of 37 inches fell locally and it was buffeted by 30 to 40…

In March 1936, on the day of the flood that year, an event that caused substantial damage occurred on West Main Street near Richview Avenue at the same time that the Hoosic River was taking its toll elsewhere.  The ten-stall Hamer Garage and radio…

During the last week of June--and extending into the first week in July 1938, North Adams was the scene of a spectacular event, the likes of which has not been seen before or since.  The Transcript, reporting on a pageant held on Noel Field 63 years…

1927 was not a particularly good year for North Adams. Rather, it was one of disaster -- first by fire and then by flood.  At 3:15 in the morning of February 14th, a Monday, William Gomeau, driving a Yellow Cab in downtown North Adams spotted flames…

Most everyone in the vicinity of North Adams is aware of the cliff face known as Coca-Cola Ledge. But do you know it’s true name and how it eventually became a symbol for a soda company? The actual name of the precipice is Witt’s Ledge. In the…