NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS

'Northampton' is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 28,978 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hampshire County.

Contents

History

Geography

Demographics

Government

Public schools

Transportation

Points of interest

Notable residents

References

External links

History

The area now known as Northampton was inhabited by Native Americans, such as the Pocomtuc, Nonotuck Mohawk, and Mahican, for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. They called it Norwottuck, or Nonotuck, meaning "the midst of the river." Colonial Northampton was founded in 1654 by settlers from Springfield, Massachusetts. Initial cooperation between the settlers and the Natives gave way to conflict, evidence of which can today be seen most clearly in nearby Historic Deerfield. Northampton hosted its own witch trials in the 18th century, although no (accused) witches were executed. Members of the community were among the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. (See the external link to Historic Northampton below for more.)
Northampton was linked to the sea by the Hampshire and Hampden Canal in 1835, but the canal enterprise foundered and after about a decade was replaced by a railroad running along the same route. A flood on the Mill River on May 16, 1874, killed 51 people in the village of Leeds in the township of Northampton.
Northampton, which was incorporated as a city in 1883, developed into a thriving community and a local center for commerce, education, and the arts, even supporting a still-extant opera house, the Academy of Music, which functioned as an independent movie house until recently. However, the 800 seat theatre now operates as a venue for rent for local and other productions. In 1851, opera singer Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," declared Northampton to be the "Paradise of America." The first game of women's basketball was played in 1892 at Smith College. Immigrant groups that settled here in large numbers included Irish, Polish, and French-Canadian; in more recent years, Puerto Ricans, Indians, Vietnamese and Cambodians have continued to add to the cultural mosaic. Segments of the 1966 film ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' were filmed in and around Northampton during the fall of 1965. When not filming, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton frequented Northampton's Academy of Music, where they sat in the balcony to watch movies. Other films filmed in Northampton include the Academy-Award-winning ''The Cider House Rules,'' ''Malice'' with Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin, ''In Dreams'' with Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr., and ''Sylvia'' with Gwyneth Paltrow. It is also known as the birthplace of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The concept was created and developed here by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
Northampton today is a popular destination for tourists, who come to sample the city's shopping and restaurants. Since 1995 the city has been home to the biannual Paradise City Arts Festival, held at the Three County Fairgrounds on Memorial Day Weekend and Columbus Day Weekend. The Festival has been ranked the #2 arts fair in America, and is a national juried showcase for contemporary craft and fine art. Northampton itself remains a showplace for the arts, and was rated as the top "Small Arts Town" in the country by travel writer John Villani, author of "The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America" (3rd edition, published by John Muir Publications). Northampton is also the home of the New Century Theatre, which was founded by Sam Rush and Jack Neary in 1991 on the campus of Smith College. It is an open and tolerant community, and is home to a sizeable lesbian community. The town has ties to the controversial children's book, "Heather Has Two Mommies."
Author Tracy Kidder documented the many layers of Northampton society at the end of the 20th century in his nonfiction book ''Home Town.''

Geography

Northampton sits on the banks of the Connecticut River, in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. It is located at (42.327389, -72.657677).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 92.2 km² (35.6 mi²). 89.3 km² (34.5 mi²) of it is land and 3.0 km² (1.1 mi²) of it (3.20%) is water.
Inclusive within the city limits are the villages of Florence and Leeds. It is bordered to the north by the towns of Hatfield and Williamsburg, to the west by Westhampton, to the east by Hadley (across the Connecticut River), and to the south by Easthampton.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,978 people, 11,880 households, and 5,880 families residing in the city. The population density was 324.7/km² (841.0/mi²). There were 12,405 housing units at an average density of 139.0/km² (360.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.01% White, 2.08% African American, 0.30% Native American, 3.13% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.41% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.24% of the population.
There were 11,880 households out of which 22.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.7% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.5% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.0% under the age of 18, 15.4% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 75.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $41,808, and the median income for a family was $56,844. Males had a median income of $37,264 versus $30,728 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,022. About 5.7% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.
Northampton has four elementary schools (kindergarten through 5th grade), one middle school (6th to 8th grade), one high school (9th to 12th grade), and one vocational-agricultural high school (9th to 12th grade).

Government

Northampton is also considered by many as something of a liberal mecca, due in part to the five colleges in the area and the city's large GLBT community. Smith College, which has an active and progressive lesbian community, is part of the center of the city's activities.
Smith College has also been at odds with the community from time-to-time, most recently with the construction of its new engineering and molecular sciences complex, which shall cause many low-income residents to be displaced. ^[1]
The city is home to the national office of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, a civil liberties advocacy group; as well as Free Press, a non-profit advocating media reform and citizen involvement in media public policy. The Freedom Center, an antipsychiatry community and advocacy group, also operates out of Northampton.
As of 2007, Mary Clare Higgins is the Mayor. Previous mayors include James "Big Jim" Cahillane who served from 1954 to 1960. One of the duties he performed while in office was to present his son, Stephen, with his high school diploma in 1954. He also awarded his future daughter-in-law, Rita Menard, with her diploma as well.
The Paradise City Forum was founded November, 2001 to provide a nonpartisan discussion tool for the community.
In the 2004 presidential election, multiple wards within Northampton recorded 80%+ of the votes going to Kerry/Edwards.

Public schools

Main articles: Northampton Public Schools, Massachusetts

Transportation

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority operates several buses which
originate in Northampton, with service to local towns such as
Amherst and Holyoke,
and local universities, such as the University of Massachusetts-Amherst
and Hampshire College.
The Franklin Regional Transit Authority also
operates a bus to Greenfield.
There is a Peter Pan Bus terminal
with service to Springfield.
The Vermont Transit Lines bus also serves this terminal.
At the Springfield terminal, passengers can connect to buses to many
other Northeast cities. The Springfield Amtrak station is a short
walk from the Springfield bus depot. The only active train line through Northampton
is operated by a Class 2 railroad regional railway, PanAm Railways (formerly known as Guilford Rail System). The Montrealer was the last passenger
train to run through Northampton.
The closest major passenger airport is Bradley International Airport, BDL.

Points of interest

★ Smith College is a women's college (one of the Seven Sisters) founded in 1871. It is also one of the Five Colleges.

★ Clarke School For The Deaf specializes in oral education (speech and lip-reading, as opposed to signing), and holds an annual summer camp, the theme varying from summer to summer. Clarke is also the oldest oral school for the deaf in the country, being established in 1867 on Round Hill Road overlooking the Connecticut River Valley.

★ Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, Rainbow Beach, Roberts Hill Conservation Area, Mineral Hills Conservation Area, and Saw Mill Hills Conservation Area provide a portion of the protected open space that covers 15% of the City.

★ Look Park is a 150+ acre recreational park founded in 1930.

★ Northampton is becoming a rail trail hub. Currently, the Norwottuck Rail Trail extends ten miles from Northampton to Amherst and Belchertown, the 2.5 mile Northampton Bike Path extends from downtown Northampton to Florence, and the Manhan Rail Trail Spur extends 0.5 miles from Route 66 to Florence Road. Four other rail trail extensions are under construction, in the bidding process, or planned for the short term.

★ The Botanic Garden of Smith College is a diverse outdoor collection of trees, shrubs, and plants, as well as a fine collection of plant conservatories for the tropics, semi-tropics, and desert regions. It also includes an indoor greenhouse.

★ The Three County Fair claims to be the "longest consecutive running agricultural fair in the country," having been established and incorporated in 1818.

★ Due to its relative proximity to Boston and its strong arts community, many musicians perform in Northampton at local venues such as the Calvin theater, the Iron Horse Music Hall, Flywheel and the Pearl Street Nightclub.

★ The Northampton Independent Film Festival (NIFF) is held each fall. Founded as the Northampton Film Festival in 1995 by Howard Polonsky and Dee DeGeiso, it has continued to grow under a variety of directors. It is one of the largest in New England.

★ The Academy of Music, built in 1890 by Edward H.R. Lyman, is the only municipally owned theatre in the nation, and was the first to be so owned; it is also one of the six oldest theatres, nationally. Boris Karloff and Harry Houdini (who installed a trap door in the stage) performed here. The Academy is still in operation today.

★ The Forbes Library built in 1894 is the public library for Northampton.

★ Mirage Studios, the Creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Franchise. In the TMNT series, the turtles and Casey Jones visit Casey Jones' grandmother's farm in Northampton, Massachusetts.

★ Each May, students from the Northampton Community Music Center (NCMC) fill the streets with music.

★ Thornes Marketplace in downtown Northampton contains shops, restaurants, a gallery and a performing space where local dance and theater performances occur regularly.
On a small hill overlooking the city, right by the site of the Northampton State Hospital, sits a simple stone monument marking the spot of the hangings of Daley and Halligan, two Irishmen wrongfully accused of murder in the early 1800s.

Notable residents

★ Jeanne Birdsall, children's author, best known for her debut novel, ''

★ Augusten Burroughs, author, his bestseller ''Running with Scissors'' describes his strange childhood in Northampton

★ William Cullen Bryant, 19c author and newspaper editor

★ Eric Carle, children's book author and illustrator

★ Lydia Maria Child, authoress of the Thanksgiving poem "Over the River and Through the Woods"

★ Chris Collingwood, lead singer of the band Fountains of Wayne

★ Calvin Coolidge; served as mayor of Northampton before becoming governor of Massachusetts and U.S. president

★ Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics from their Northampton studio

★ Jonathan Edwards, 18c Congregational theologian, philosopher, leader of First Great Awakening and local pastor

★ Anthony Giardina, author

★ Herbert Gintis, economist

★ Sylvester Graham, namesake of the Graham Cracker

★ Tracy Kidder, author

★ Elinor Lipman, author

★ José Molina, member, USA national Indoor field hockey team

★ William Monahan, novelist and screenwriter

★ Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of the band Sonic Youth

★ Jeff Rowland, Creator of the webcomics Wigu and Overcompensating

★ Talisa Soto, actress

★ Sojourner Truth, African American abolitionist and orator

★ Kurt Vonnegut, author

References

★ Kerry W. Buckley, ed. ''A Place Called Paradise: Culture and Community in Northampton, Massachusetts, 1654-2004''. Northampton: Historic Northampton Museum and Education Center, in association with University of Massachusetts Press, 2004. ix + 523 pp. ISBN 978-1-55849-485-5. reprints 20 essays by scholars

★ Tracy Kidder. ''Home Town'' [1999], nonfiction by reporter

External links

★ City of Northampton's official website

★ Visit Northampton (city guide website)

★ Smith College

★ Northampton Public Schools

★ Forbes Library (Northampton)

★ Paradise City Forum-Northampton's public discussion group website

★ Historic Northampton (historical society website)

★ Your Stories Northampton

★ Daily Hampshire Gazette, the (Northampton newspaper)

★ Midweek Politics, a nationally-syndicated political radio show produced and broadcast from Northampton, Massachusetts.

★ Valley Free Radio, a low-power FM community radio station, has made its home in Northampton since August 2005.

★ The Rainbow Times, LGBT Biweekly Newspaper, (established in 2006)

★ Baystate Objectivist, website often featuring Northampton

★ SkySutton.comComprehensive data collection of those buried in Bridge Street Cemetery.
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