North Adams, Massachusetts
Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. 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 nation, 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 & 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.
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, 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.Geography
North Adams is located at (42.693899, -73.115096)[Geographic references#1GR1].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.
Demographics
As of the census[Geographic references#2GR2] 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.
Notable institutions
External links
- [Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art]
- [Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams]
- [Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts]
- [North Adams Transcript] (newspaper)
- [Monument Square]
- [North Adams Public Library]
- [North Adams Historical Society]
- [Drury Drama Team]
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