What is North Adams, Massachusetts?

North Adams, Massachusetts
Location in Berkshire County in Massachusetts Location in Berkshire County in Massachusetts
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Berkshire
Settled	1737
Incorporated	1878
Government
- Type	Mayor-council city
Area
- City	20.6 sq mi (53.3 km)
- Land	20.4 sq mi (52.9 km)
- Water	0.1 sq mi (0.3 km)
Elevation	707 ft (215 m)
Population (2000)
- City	14,681
- Density	718.3/sq mi (277.3/km)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	01247
Area code(s)	413
FIPS code	25-46225
GNIS feature ID	0607610

North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,681, at the 2000 census, making it the least populous city in the state. Best known as the home of the largest contemporary art museum in the United States, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams has in recent years become a center for tourism, culture and recreation.

History

North Adams was first settled in 1737 and, separating from Adams, was officially incorporated in 1878. The city is named in honor of Samuel Adams, a leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and governor of Massachusetts.

For much of its existence, North Adams was a mill town. Manufacturing began in the city before the Revolutionary War, as its location at the confluence of the two branches of the Hoosic River provided water power for diverse, small-scale industries. By the late 1700s and early 1800s, businesses included wholesale shoe manufacturers; a brick yard; a saw mill; cabinet-makers; hat manufacturers; machine shops for the construction of mill machines; marble works; wagon- and sleigh-makers; and an ironworks, which provided the pig iron for armor plates on the Civil War ship, the Monitor. North Adams would be headquarters for construction of the Hoosac Tunnel.

In 1860, the O. Arnold and Company was established with the latest equipment for printing cloth. Large government contracts to supply fabric for the Union Army helped the business prosper. During the next four decades, Arnold Print Works became one of the world's leading manufacturers of printed textiles. It also became the largest employer in North Adams, with some 3,200 workers by 1905. Despite decades of success, however, falling cloth prices and the lingering effects of the Great Depression forced Arnold Print Works to close its Marshall Street operation in 1942, consolidating at smaller facilities in Adams.

Later that year, the Sprague Electric Company bought the former print works site. Sprague physicists, chemists, electrical engineers, and skilled technicians were called upon by the U.S. government during World War II to design and manufacture crucial components of some of its most advanced high-tech weapons systems, including the atomic bomb.

With state-of-the-art equipment, Sprague was a major research and development center, conducting studies on the nature of electricity and semi-conducting materials. After the war, its products were used in the launch systems for Gemini moon missions, and by 1966 Sprague employed 4,137 workers in a community of 18,000, existing almost as a city within a city. From the post-war years to the mid-1980s, Sprague produced electrical components for the booming consumer electronics market, but competition from abroad led to declining sales and, in 1985, the company closed operations on Marshall Street.

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art & the "Renaissance"

The closure of Sprague Electric devastated the local economy. Unemployment rates rose and population growth declined. In 1986, just a year after the factory's closing, the business and political leaders of North Adams were seeking ways to creatively re-use the vast complex. Williams College Museum of Art director Thomas Krens, who would later become Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, was looking for space to exhibit large works of contemporary art that would not fit in conventional museum galleries. When Mayor John Barrett III suggested the vast Marshall Street complex as a possible exhibition site, the idea of creating a contemporary arts center in North Adams began to take shape.

The campaign to build political and community support for the proposed institution, which would serve as a platform for the creation and presentation of contemporary art, and develop links to the region's myriad cultural institutions, began in earnest. The Massachusetts legislature announced its support for the project in 1988. Subsequent economic upheaval in Massachusetts threatened the project, but broad-based support from the community and the private sector, which pledged more than $8 million, ensured that it continued to move forward.

The eventual proposal utilized the unparalleled scale and versatility of the complex's industrial spaces, while establishing a dialogue between the facility's past and the new life it would have as the country's largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts. The complex is listed as a federal superfund site of contaminated sites.

Since its opening, MASS MoCA has provided the catalyst and anchor for a larger economic transformation in the region centered on cultural, recreational, and educational offerings. In the past five years, North Adams has become home for several new and well-regarded restaurants, contemporary art galleries and cultural organizations. In addition, one shuttered area factories and mills are being rehabilitated as live/work lofts for artists.

Geography

North Adams is located at (42.693899, -73.115096).^GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 53.3 km² (20.6 mi²). 52.9 km² (20.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.63%) is water. North Adams is drained by the Hoosic River, which to prevent floods has been walled and floored with concrete in portions. The city's Natural Bridge State Park contains the only natural white marble bridge in North America. Formed by glacial melt by 11,000 BC, the arch and abandoned quarry have long attracted attention from hikers, including Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1838, who wrote of it (among other local features) in his An American Notebook.

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 14,681 people, 6,311 households, and 3,635 families residing in the city. The population density was 277.3/km² (718.3/mi²). There were 7,088 housing units at an average density of 133.9/km² (346.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.99% White, 1.67% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.80% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.80% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.03% of the population.

There were 6,311 households out of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.4% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $27,601, and the median income for a family was $37,635. Males had a median income of $30,292 versus $23,012 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,381. About 13.5% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

North Adams is the smallest city in Massachusetts. (Smaller municipalities exist, but are towns rather than cities.) Its mayor, John Barrett III, is the longest-serving mayor in the Commonwealth, having served since January 1984.

Transportation

Education

Public schools

• Brayton Elementary School
• Greylock Elementary School
• Sullivan Elementary School
• Silvio Conte Middle School
• Charles H. McCann Technical High School
• Drury High School

Higher education

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA)

Founded in 1894 as North Adams Normal School, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts enrolls nearly 1,500 students. The most popular programs (according to enrollment in major/focus) are English/Communications, Business, Education, History, Fine & Performing Arts, Psychology, and Sociology. In 1932 the Normal School became the State Teachers College of North Adams. In 1960, the college changed its name to North Adams State College and added professional degrees in Business Administration and Computer Science. By 1976, the enrollment had grown from 800 to 2,000 students. In 1997, the name changed to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), reflective of specialty school status within the Massachusetts State College system.

In recent years, MCLA has begun to develop more academic programming in the fields of fine arts and arts management, reflecting the region's growth as a center of arts and cultural affairs.

Points of interest

• Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
• Natural Bridge State Park
• Western Gateway Heritage State Park
• Hoosac Tunnel

Notable residents

• William James Durant, American philosopher, historian, and writer
• Howard Cruse, cartoonist, author of Stuck Rubber Baby
• Frank Vincent, actor, musician, comedian, writer, and producer
• Nick Zammuto and Paul De Jong, members of aleatoric rock band The Books
• Peter Laird, co-creator of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
• Jane Swift, former Governor of Massachusetts
• Vice Admiral Allan Rockwell McCann, USN
• Caleb Atwater, Educator and archaeologist
• Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners In Health
• Henry Darby, American painter
• Amy Lee, saxophonist
• Hiram Sibley, co-founder of Western Union
• John M. Darby, botanist and academic
• Dale Long, professional baseball player
• Jack Chesbro Former MLB player enshrined in Baseball Hall of Fame
• Oswald Tower, basketball administrator, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame

References

External links

• City of North Adams, Massachusetts (Official website)
• Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
• Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
• North Adams Transcript (newspaper)
• Chamber of Commerce (newspaper)
• American Notes (Hawthorne travelogue, 1838)
• Monument Square (History of city Civil War Monument)
• North Adams Public Library
• North Adams Historical Society
• Drury Drama Team
• Congregation Beth Israel
• North Adams SteepleCats
• McCann Technical High School Official Webpage
• Articles about North Adams and photos of the city by author and historian Joe Manning
• * Maps and aerial photos for Coordinates:
• Maps from , Google Maps, Live Search Maps, Yahoo! Maps, or MapQuest
• Topographic maps from TopoZone or TerraServer-USA

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