On August 30, 1890, the Sisters of Ste. Anne arrived at Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur parish. They came at the request of Father Louis LeDuc for the purpose of teaching the children of the parish. At that time, there were about 500 families who were…

John Dwight Chesbro was born in North Adams on June 5, 1874 and grew up at 177 Bracewell Avenue. His personality was such that he was dubbed “Happy Jack” at an early age. As he matured his interests turned to the game of baseball, specifically the…

The notice for the discontinuance of trolley cars in the Northern Berkshire area came officially on April 9, 1930, although many people in the area already knew this was an inevitable fate. Successful bus routes had already taken over some of the…

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…

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…