Margaret Hart was a pioneer by becoming the first student of color to graduate from the State Teachers College of North Adams.

Cyrus Isbell was a skilled middle-class carpenter during the mid 1850’s. Isbell owned and operated a business on Eagle Street in North Adams, fulfilling his life through his trade and family.

One of the oldest remains in Hillside Cemetery are claimed by Elisha Nims, a soldier for the Colonial British Army. Nims’ remains portray a grim narrative of being a wartime casualty, and his final…

The Thayer family is a prime example of an extensive and intricate lineage. While Daniel Thayer Jr. claimed interest for himself in the James Hunter Machine Company during it’s time as a grist mill,…

Sylvander Johnson was an influential figure across many facets of society--manufacturing, legislation, and local politics. Johnson was able to establish bills, banks, and had an everlasting presence…

Throughout his lifetime, Sanford Blackinton transitioned between many trades, such as agriculture, brick work, and eventually textiles. Blackinton’s economic brilliance helped his business and wealth…

Giles Tinker, though not a native to North Adams, spent most of his life there, and greatly added to the fabric of the community in terms of his industrial, religious, and social contributions.

Elizabeth Wilkinson and Henry S. Millard were ordinary people who lived an ordinary life but even ordinary people leave lasting marks on the town and the people around them.

Calvin T. Sampson, with little schooling, grew from a farmer in Vermont to one of North Adams' most prominent businessmen in the late 1800s.