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History of North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Journey back in time to North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
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North Adams, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA
Adams and North Adams are monuments to the memory of the patriot, Samuel Adams.
How New England Towns Received Their Names
The Day
New London, Connecticut
October 21, 1914
In 1870, seventy-five men from China arrived in North Adams, to be employed in a boot and shoe factory, the first men from China ever sent East.
North Adams includes: Beaver, Blackinton, Braytonville, Burdickville, Greylock, Houghtonville, Kempville, Loraine, and Notch.
netronline.com/mass_lookup.htm
There is MUCH more to discover about North Adams, Massachusetts, USA. Read on!
Old Photos, Pictures, Advertisements and Postcards from North Adams, Massachusetts, USA

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Drury High School
The school was built in 1843 through a $3,000 grant in the will of Nathan Drury. In 1851 the school became a free, public high school. In 1867 the original building was torn down and replaced with a new building.
The Dru, 1898 ... Read MORE...
Read more about Nathan DRURY


North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

The Eclipse Mills
Harvey Arnold with his brother Oliver and his friend Nathanial Blinn built the Eclipse Mill in the 1830s and began manufacturing cotton goods. The three owned Eclipse and Slater mill by the mid-1830s. Things went bad for the... Read MORE...

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

West Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, North Adams, Mass.
The Hoosac Tunnel goes all the way back to 1819 when it was originally proposed as a portion of a canal system running from Boston to Albany. hoosactunnel.net
THE HOOSAC TUNNEL IS A railway that... Read MORE...

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Artwork

Natural Bridge, North Adams
Picturesque America... Oliver Bell Bunce, William Cullen Bryant
New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1872-1874.

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Dr. Brown Sanatorium, 1910
The Berkshire Hills Sanitarium was founded in 1877 by Dr. W. E. Brown and Son in North Adams, Massachusetts. The large, single building facility was founded as a specialized treatment center for cancer...
Dr.... Read MORE...
Read more about Wallace Everett BROWN

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Hospital, No. Adams, Mass.
The hospital opened March 2, 1884 and the original building was expanded over time. A completely new hospital building on the same campus opened in 1955. wikipedia

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Notre Dame Church, 1907
In 1871, Father Charles Crevier came to North Adams to start what would become the Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur parish. The site was purchased by Father Crevier and Samuel Vadnais from T.F Loftus in 1872. The church was... Read MORE...

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

State Normal School Dormitory & President's Residence, 1910
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts was founded as the State Normal School at North Adams by an act of the Massachusetts legislature in 1894. Normal schools were created specifically... Read MORE...

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Richmond Hotel
...In the late 1890’s, under the leadership of Clinton Q. Richmond, the original hotel was demolished and replaced with a spectacular brick edifice with a stone facade. At the intersection of Main and State Streets, the building... Read MORE...

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Y.M.C.A. Building, 1907
On September 13, 1886, a group of 16 men, all prominent in the business life of the young city of North Adams, met in the Good Templar's Hall to form the YMCA. It was not until October 16, 1895 that the organization became ... Read MORE...

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Public Library, North Adams, Mass.
In 1896, the Honorable Albert C. Houghton, 1st mayor of North Adams, purchased the former Sanford Blackinton residence and gave it to the city for a public library as a memorial to his brother Andrew Jackson... Read MORE...
Read more about Albert Charles HOUGHTON


North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

G.A.R. Hall
The two-story brick building was erected in 1896 to house Charles D. Sanford Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Civil War veterans. According to a history of North Adam and vicinity published by the Transcript ... Read MORE...

North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Postcard

Waterhouse & Howard Mill, 1910
John H. Waterhouse was, with Theodore Howard, a member of the manufacturing firm of Waterhouse and Howard which, in 1905 leased the Eagle Mill in North Adams and operated it as a wollen mill.
Read more about John H WATERHOUSE


North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
Advertisement

E. Trudeau's Dairy bottle
Read more about Emile TRUDEAU

History, News and Stories of North Adams, Massachusetts, USA

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1737 - North Adams is settled
Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
1846 - Fifty factory girls recently went sleighing in North Adams, Massachusetts. Only think of FIFTY emancipated working girls on a spree!
The Sun
Baltimore, Maryland
January 23, 1846
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1854 - North Adams
North Adams, a post-village of Adams township, Berkshire co., Massachusetts, on the Hoosick river, at the northern terminus of the Pitsfield and... Read MORE...
1868 - The operatives in the cotton and woolen mills in North Adams, Massachusetts, work eleven hours per day, and the average wages is six dollars per week.
The New Orleans Crescent
New Orleans, Louisiana
November 20, 1868
1870 - 75 Chinamen
CHICAGO, June 12. - A gang of seventy-five Chinamen arrived here from San Francisco, en route to North Adams, Massachusetts, to be employed in a boot ... Read MORE...
1871 - Should have said Yes?
An aged woman in North Adams, Massachusetts, relates that many years ago, while attending a social dance, a young mechanic asked for her hand for one ... Read MORE...
1875 - Fatal Accident.
EDWARD McCRAW, foreman of a gang in the Little Tunnel at North Adams, Mass., was crushed to death on Thursday night while shackling corn.
The New Hampshire Patriot
Concord, New Hampshire
November 24, 1875
1877 - Only 68 Chinese shoemakers remain at North Adams, Massachusetts.
The Indianapolis News
Indianapolis, Indiana
May 5, 1877
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1878 - North Adams, founded in 1878, its parent town was Adams
ma-vitalrecords.org/ MA/ Berkshire/ index.shtml
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1878 - North Adams is incorporated
Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
1879 - Chinamen in a Riot - Scene in a North Adams Shoe Shop - Fighting with American Workmen.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass., July 3. - About 10 o'clock this morning, Elmer Hewett, a pegger in the Chinese work-room, at Sampson's shoe shop, was struck on... Read MORE...
1880 - The Water Responsible
Some time ago a mysterious epidemic broke out at North Adams, Massachusetts, and for several weeks everybody was wondering what it could be caused... Read MORE...
1880 - Nitro-Glycerine Works Explodes
The Mosbray nitro-glycerine works at North Adams, Massachusetts, have been blown up three times. They have had ten superintendents, eight of whom... Read MORE...
1882 - DEATH ON THE RAIL. RAILROAD WORKMEN KILLED AND INJURED IN MASSACHUSETTS.
North Adams, Mass., Oct. 21. - A terrible accident to a caboose containing working men belonging to the North Adams freight yard occurred this... Read MORE...
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North Adams Massachusetts, 1890
North Adams is a flourishing manufacturing town on the Hoosac River, in the northern part of Berkshire County. The junction of the Housatonic... Read MORE...
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1895 - North Adams
North Ad'ams, a post-village in North Adams town ship, Berkshire co., Mass., on the Hoosac River, near the W. end of the great Hoosac Tunnel, 20... Read MORE...
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1895 - North Adams is incorporated as a city
Massachusetts City and Town Incorporation and Settlement Dates
1898 - MILK DEALER KILLED. Charles Davis Thrown From His Wagon and His Skull Fractured.
North Adams, Mass., Aug. 30 - Charles Davis, aged 41, a milk dealer, was thrown from his wagon, when his horse ran away today, and died three hours... Read MORE...
1899 - VACATION AT AN END. The President and Party Leave Adams, Mass., for the Nation's Capitol.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass., June 26. - The President [McKinley] was met at 2:30 o'clock on Church street, by Sanford Post G. A. R. and a band, and was taken... Read MORE...
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1906
North Adams, a city of Berkshire co., Mass., on the Hoosac River, near the W. end of the Hoosac Tunnel, 36 miles E. of Albany, N.Y., on the Boston... Read MORE...
1907 - PANIC IN THEATER AUDIENCE - EXPLOSION AT NORTH ADAMS.
Many Rush for the Doors at Empire Theater When Picture Machine Takes Fire - One Woman Trampled on and Others Hysterical - Fire Quickly Put... Read MORE...
1927 - Flood
...Northwestern Massachusetts also felt the flood. Property loss was estimated at more than $1,000,000 in North Adams alone. The national guard was... Read MORE...
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North Adams is the wettest city in Massachusetts, averaging 109 days of precipitation each year.
National Weather Service
North Adams, Massachusetts, USA Genealogy
Ancestors Who Were Born or Died in North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
We currently have information about ancestors who were born or died in North Adams.View Them Now (sorted by year of birth)
Ancestors Who Were Married in North Adams, Massachusetts, USA
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Genealogy Resources for North Adams
Adams and North Adams, Massachusetts Directories, 1887, 1889-90, 1890-93JURY LIST, CITY OF NORTH ADAMS - 1901 - Berkshire Genealogist, Volume 28, Number 4 - Fall 2007
North Adams, Massachusetts City Directory, 1904
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