Florence Sullivan

Florence A. Sullivan was born on March 8, 1878, the daughter of Dennis and Bridget (Slattery) Sullivan.  She attended St. Joseph’s School, graduated from Drury High School and attended Kenwood Convent of the Sacred Heart at Albany, N.Y. The Sullivan real estate interests were acquired by her brothers John F. and William B. Sullivan, who established and operated Sullivan Furniture Store on Main Street in North Adams for several years. With limited capital, the two brothers established the business in the early 1880's in the old Cavanaugh Block near Pearl Street, in an area which was cleared for the construction of the Hadley overpass. The enterprise soon outgrew its original space and the Sullivan brothers purchased new property at Main and Marshall Streets to house it. In 1897, they erected the Sullivan building, originally a six-story structure opposite State Street and moved the furniture store there. At the same time, they acquired the former Wilson hotel building which extended from their new block along the south side of Main Street to Holden Street and with it the Empire Theater, which was located at the back of the hotel, extending out to Holden Street.  The brothers operated the theater for many years, subsequently leasing it to the Paramount Theaters Corp. In 1912, one of the worst fires in the city’s history destroyed the Wilson Hotel and Empire Theater buildings and seriously damaged the Sullivan Block. A two-story business building at Main and Holden Streets and the Paramount Theater were then built and the Sullivan block, reduced to four stories in height, was restored. The Sullivan business interests expanded into Pittsfield.  In 1909, the brothers erected the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield which they later sold to a Pittsfield group, and they then built the Majestic Theater in that city which they continued to operate for about 10 years. In North Adams, the Sullivans purchased the Sibley property on Main Street and then the Adams Block at the corner of Main and Ashland Streets in 1920, the Blackinton Block at Main and Holden in 1922, and the Aldrich property and the Gatslick Block the same year. At the time of her death on September 29, 1957, Florence Sullivan was the city’s largest individual real estate owner. She was also known for her charitable activities in North Adams and Berkshire County. In her will, she instructed her executor (one of her cousins) to continue looking after her properties, collecting rent and maintaining the buildings, and have it all liquidated by the tenth anniversary of her death. The amassed capital would go into the residual estate and be divided up amongst the heirs. Most of her holdings were lost during urban renewal in 1970.