North Adams is a city located in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 14,681, making it the least populous city in Massachusetts. 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.
North Adams is located at 42°41'38" North, 73°6'54" West (42.693899, -73.115096).
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 is water. The total area is 0.63% water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 14,681 people, 6,311 households, and 3,635 families residing in the city. The population density is 277.3/km2 (718.3/mi2). There are 7,088 housing units at an average density of 133.9/km2 (346.8/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 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. 2.03% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 6,311 households out of which 26.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% are married couples living together, 13.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 42.4% are non-families. 36.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 16.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.21 and the average family size is 2.87.
In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 83.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $27,601, and the median income for a family is $37,635. Males have a median income of $30,292 versus $23,012 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,381. 18.2% of the population and 13.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 30.1% of those under the age of 18 and 9.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
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 was ideal for the diverse, small-scale industries of colonial times. 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 the armor plates for the Civil War ship, the Monitor.
In 1860, the print works O. Arnold and Company established and installed the latest equipment for printing cloth. Large government contracts to supply fabric for the Union Army ensured that the business prospered, and during the next four decades Arnold Print Works became the largest employer in North Adams. By 1905, Arnold Print Works employed some 3,200 people as one of the leading producers of printed textiles in the world. Despite decades of success, falling cloth prices and the lingering effects of the great Depression forced Arnold Print Works to close its Marshall Street operation in 1942, consolidating to smaller facilities in neighboring Adams, Massachusetts.
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.
Outfitted 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, Sprague's 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 lower-priced components produced abroad led to declining sales and, in 1985, the company closed its operations on Marshall Street.
Source:
NorthAdamsMassachusetts.com
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