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…

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…

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,…

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…

Does anyone remember the 2-alarm fire which occurred on March 31, 1971 totally involving this old mill? I sure do. I walked right by it on my way home from Drury High School. Here’s a little history of that building. The first Eagle Mill was built…

Lloyd’s Bakery was one of the first successful bakeries in North Adams. It was opened in 1912 by Ralph and Harold Lloyd on the corner of River and Houghton Streets. By 1916, business was so brisk that the brothers realized they had to update their…

With the completion of St. Francis of Assisi Church, members of the church, under the leadership Rev. Charles Burke, focused on a new goal of building a parish school. On September 6, 1886, the new school came to fruition under the direction and…

Like the city of North Adams itself, the Richmond Theater suffered its up and downs. It opened in 1900 and had most successful years during the first and second decades of the 20th century. It held its own during the Great Depression and it survived…

S.B. Dibble arrived in North Adams in 1871 when he accepted a position with E.J. Cary, a lumber dealer based in this city. Three years later in 1874, Mr. Dibble purchased half interest in this business and within one year became its sole proprietor,…

It was a sad day when the Transcript announced that Molly’s Bakery, an Eagle Street landmark since 1937, was closing its doors on March 29, 2008. The business began in 1931 by John, Sam and Joseph Mazza where the store was located at 165 State…