Northampton, Massachusetts


The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton was 28,549.
Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and countercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations. Based on U.S. Census demographics, election returns, and other criteria, the website Epodunk rates Northampton as the most politically liberal medium-size city in the United States. The city has a high proportion of residents who identify as gay and lesbian, a high number of same-sex households, and is a popular destination for the LGBT community.
Northampton is part of the Pioneer Valley and is one of the northernmost cities in the Knowledge Corridor—a cross-state cultural and economic partnership with other Connecticut River Valley cities and towns. Northampton is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Area, one of western Massachusetts's two separate metropolitan areas. It sits approximately north of the city of Springfield.
Northampton is home to Smith College, Northampton High School, Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, and the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech.

History

Early settlement

Northampton was known as "Norwottuck", or "Nonotuck", meaning "the midst of the river", named by its original Pocumtuc inhabitants. According to various accounts, Northampton was given its present name by John A. King, one of its original English settlers, or possibly in King's honor, since it is supposed that he came to Massachusetts from Northampton, England, his birthplace.
The Pocumtuc confederacy occupied the Connecticut River Valley from what is now southern Vermont and New Hampshire into northern Connecticut. The Pocumtuc tribes were Algonquian and traditionally allied with the Mahican confederacy to the west. By 1606 an ongoing struggle between the Mahican and Iroquois confederacies led to direct attacks on the Pocumtuc by the Iroquoian Mohawk nation. The Mahican confederacy had been defeated by 1628, limiting Pocumtuc access to trade routes to the west. The area suffered a major smallpox epidemic in the 1630s following the arrival of Dutch traders in the Hudson Valley and English settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the previous two decades. It was in this context that the land making up the bulk of modern Northampton was sold to settlers from Springfield in 1653.
On May 18, 1653, a petition for township was approved by the general court of Springfield. While some settlers visited the land in the fall of 1653, they waited till early spring 1654 to arrive and establish a permanent settlement. The situation in the region further deteriorated when the Mohawk people escalated hostilities against the Pocumtuc confederacy and other Algonquian tribes after 1655, forcing many of the plague-devastated Algonquian groups into defensive mergers. This coincided with a souring of relations between the Wampanoag and the Massachusetts Bay colonists, eventually leading to the expanded Algonquian alliance, which took part in King Philip's War.

Partition

Northampton was part of the Equivalent Lands compromise. Its territory was enlarged beyond the original settlement, but later portions would be carved up into separate cities, towns, and municipalities. Southampton, for example, was incorporated in 1775 and included parts of the territories of modern Montgomery and Easthampton. Westhampton was incorporated in 1778 and Easthampton in 1809. A hamlet of Northampton, called Smith's Ferry, became separated from the rest of the city with the drawing of boundaries for Easthampton. Because the village was separated by Mount Tom, the shortest path to from the downtown to this area was a road near the Connecticut River oxbow, which was frequently subject to flooding. This led to many services such as fire and police being provided by the city of Holyoke rather than Northampton's own municipal departments, and after a number of negotiations between the two cities, Smith's Ferry was ceded to Holyoke in 1909 for a sum of $62,000.

The Great Awakening

Congregational preacher, theologian and philosopher Jonathan Edwards was a leading figure in a 1734 Christian revival in Northampton. In the winter of 1734 and the following spring it reached such intensity that it threatened the town's businesses. In the spring of 1735 the movement began to subside and a reaction set in. But the relapse was brief, and the Northampton revival, which had spread through the Connecticut River Valley and whose fame had reached England and Scotland, was followed in 1739–1740 by the Great Awakening, under the leadership of Edwards.
For this achievement, Edwards is considered one of the founders of evangelical Christianity. He is also credited with being one of the primary inspirations for transcendentalism, because of passages like this: "That the works of nature are intended and contrived of God to signify and indigitate spiritual things is particularly evident concerning the rainbow, by God's express revelation."
'' by Thomas Cole
Northampton hosted its own witch trials in the 1700s, although no alleged witches were executed.

After the Revolution

Members of the Northampton community were present at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
On August 29, 1786, Daniel Shays and a group of Revolutionary War veterans stopped the civil court from sitting in Northampton, in an uprising known as Shays' Rebellion.
In 1805 a crowd of 15,000 gathered in Northampton to watch the executions of two Irishmen convicted of murder: Dominic Daley, 34, and James Halligan, 27. The crowd, composed largely of New England Protestants of English ancestry, lit bonfires and expressed virulently anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiments. The trial evidence against Daley and Halligan was sparse, circumstantial, contrived, and perjurious. The men were hanged on June 5, 1806, on Pancake Plain. Their bodies were denied a burial; they were destroyed in the local slaughterhouse. This trial "later came to be seen as epitomizing the anti-Irish sentiment that was widespread in New England in the early 19th century." Daley and Halligan were exonerated of all crimes by governor Michael Dukakis in 1984. Today a simple stone landmark stands marking the site of Daley and Halligan's executions.
In 1835 Northampton was linked to the ocean by the New Haven and Northampton Canal, 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, obliterated almost the entire Northampton neighborhood of Leeds, killing 139 people in Leeds and areas of neighboring towns.

The "Paradise of America"

From 1842 until 1846 Northampton was home to a transcendentalist utopian community of abolitionists. Called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, the community believed that the rights of all people should be "equal without distinction of sex, color or condition, sect or religion". It supported itself by producing mulberry trees and silk. Sojourner Truth, a former slave who became a national advocate for equality and justice, lived in this community until its dissolution.
In 1851 opera singer Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale", declared Northampton to be the "Paradise of America", from which Northampton took its nickname "The Paradise City".
Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech was founded in Northampton in 1867. It was the United States' first permanent oral school for the deaf. Alexander Graham Bell and Grace Coolidge have served as heads of school.
Smith College for women was founded in Northampton in 1871. Today Smith is the largest of the Seven Sisters colleges. Well-known Smith alumnae include Sylvia Plath, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Tammy Baldwin, Gloria Steinem, Madeleine L'Engle, and Julia Child. The first game of women's basketball was played at Smith College in 1892.
Northampton officially became a city on September 5, 1883, when voters accepted the city charter, "The act to establish the city of Northampton. 1883-Chapter 250," as passed and approved.
Immigrant groups that settled Northampton in large numbers included Irish, Polish, and French-Canadians. In 1890 a small number of German-Jewish families arrived in Northampton, most of them coming from New York or Boston. By 1905 there were almost 5000 foreign-born residents among the 20,000 people of the city.
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge worked as a lawyer in Northampton and served as the city's mayor from 1910 to 1911. He went on to be a Massachusetts state senator, lieutenant governor, and governor before becoming vice-president and president of the United States. After retiring from the U.S. presidency in 1929, Coolidge moved back to Northampton. He died in the city on January 5, 1933.

Decline

During the mid-20th century, Northampton experienced several decades of economic decline, bottoming in the 1970s, related to the emergence of the Rust Belt phenomenon. Though western Massachusetts lies outside of the Rust Belt geographically, the centrality of commerce and the arts to Northampton's economy left it economically vulnerable, in particular when compounded with the decline of Springfield's manufacturing sector, Holyoke's paper industry, and massive plant closures in the New York Capital District.
Bridge across the Connecticut River

Cultural renaissance

Northampton has a thriving cultural center and is a popular tourist destination. The city has many eclectic restaurants and a lively arts and music scene. Three Northampton farmers markets, held weekly, sell fresh produce from local farms.
Since 1981, Northampton has been host to an annual LGBT Parade and Pride event held the first Saturday in May.
Since 1995 Northampton has been home to the twice-yearly Paradise City Arts Festival, held at the Three County Fairgrounds on Memorial Day weekend and Columbus Day weekend. The festival is a national juried showcase for contemporary craft and fine art.
Northampton has a well-established music scene. The city has several live music venues, including Bishops Lounge, the Academy of Music, Calvin Theater, Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton Community Music Center, Pearl Street, the Parlor Room and the Pines Theater. Musicians and bands that call the area "home" include Sonic Youth, Erin McKeown, The Nields, the Young@Heart Chorus, Cordelia's Dad, and Speedy Ortiz.
Since 2004, Northampton has been the site of Django in June, a week-long gypsy jazz music camp held annually on the campus of Smith College.
Northampton also has an active filmmaking community. Noho Screenwriters Workshop - a group for screenwriters - is housed in Northampton, as is Happy Wasteland movie studios, which produced The Answer and Heroes Don't Come Home locally. Many other films have been shot locally by the Hollywood-based system as well, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Cider House Rules, Malice, In Dreams, The Edge of Darkness, etc.

Geography

Northampton sits on the west side of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. It is located at.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which are land and, or 4.22%, are water. A total of 21% of the city is permanently protected open space.
Within Northampton's city limits are the villages of Florence and Leeds.
Northampton is bordered to the north by the towns of Hatfield and Williamsburg, to the west by Westhampton, to the east by Hadley, and to the south by Easthampton.
The art deco Calvin Coolidge Bridge connects Northampton with Hadley across the Connecticut River. The college town of Amherst is located east of Northampton, next to Hadley. Springfield, the Connecticut River Valley's most populous Massachusetts city, is located southeast of Northampton. Boston is by highway east of Northampton. New York City is southwest of Northampton.
The Connecticut River's famous Oxbow is within Northampton's city limits, at the northern base of Mount Nonotuck.

Climate

Northampton has a humid continental climate, typical of western Massachusetts. Winters are cold and snowy, and summers are warm and humid. Precipitation is evenly distributed year-around, with an annual average of.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 28,549 people, 12,000 households, and 5,895 families residing in the city. Northampton has the most lesbian couples per capita of any city in the US. The population density was 833.7 people per square mile. There were 12,728 housing units at an average density of 360.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 87.7% White, 2.7% African American, 0.3% Native American, 4.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.4% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.8% of the population.
There were 12,000 households, out of which 21.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.6% were so-called "husband-wife" married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.9% were non-families. Of all households 37.2% were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.7% age 19 and under, 9.8% from 20 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 75.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $56,999, and the median income for a family was $80,179. Males had a median income of $40,470 versus $32,003 for females. The per capita income for the city was $33,440. About 7.8% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.
Northampton's public schools include four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and one vocational-agricultural high school. There are several private schools in Northampton and a number of charter schools in surrounding towns.
According to the website ePodunk's Gay Index, which is based on figures from the 2000 US Census, Northampton has a score of 535, vs. a national average score of 100.

Government

David Narkewicz is the mayor of Northampton. Previous mayors have included future President of the United States Calvin Coolidge and James "Big Jim" Cahillane, who served from 1954 to 1960. Well-known Judge Sean M. Dunphy was the youngest elected mayor in its history, at age 28.
The city also has a nine-member city council, composed of seven ward representatives and two at-large members. Councilors are elected to two-year terms and the council meets twice monthly for 10 months out of the year. The two other elected city-wide bodies are the School Committee and the Trustees of Forbes Library.
The Paradise City Forum was founded November 2001 to provide a nonpartisan discussion tool for the community.
Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 15, 2008Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 15, 2008Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 15, 2008Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 15, 2008Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 15, 2008Voter registration and party enrollment as of October 15, 2008
PartyPartyNumber of votersPercentage--

Education

Public schools

Colleges and universities

Northampton is home to Smith College. Smith students contribute to Northampton's college town atmosphere.

Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech

The Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech is located in Northampton.

Media

The Daily Hampshire Gazette, a six-day a week morning newspaper and the oldest surviving newspaper in Massachusetts, is based in Northampton, covering Hampshire and Franklin counties.
Northampton is the city of license for three commercial radio stations: WLZX-FM, WEIB, and WHMP. Northampton is also home to WXOJ-LP, a low-power community radio station owned and operated by Valley Free Radio. The station was built by more than 400 volunteers from Northampton and around the country in August 2005 at the eighth Prometheus Radio Project barnraising, in conjunction with the tenth annual Grassroots Radio Coalition conference. Valley Free Radio broadcasts music, news, public affairs, and locally produced radio content to listeners at 103.3 FM.
In addition, Northampton is home to Northampton Community Television, which has existed in numerous forms since the mid-1980s but experienced a radical change in 2006 when it became an independently run nonprofit community media center. After a new public unveiling in November 2007, NCTV grew to over 200 active members in less than 18 months and had already attracted statewide and national attention in the community media landscape. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 NCTV won awards for best web sites in the United States for community media organizations with budgets under $300,000.

Transportation

Roads

Northampton is served by four exits of Interstate 91, which passes to the east of downtown along the Connecticut River. U.S. Route 5, Massachusetts Route 9, and Massachusetts Route 10 all intersect in the city's downtown area. Massachusetts Route 66 also is partially in Northampton.
The city of Northampton faces daily traffic congestion in the downtown area and connector roads, often resulting in long delays and traffic buildup. The limitation of one bridge across the Connecticut River, few routes to the nearby city of Amherst, and a busy main street results in unsafe driving behavior and danger to pedestrians. The City of Northampton is attempting to solve this long-time problem by redesigning problematic intersections and installing traffic cameras.

Bus

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority operates several local passenger buses that originate in Northampton, with service to local towns such as Amherst, Williamsburg, Hadley, South Hadley, and Holyoke as well as the nearby universities and colleges: Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Hampshire College. The Franklin Regional Transit Authority operates a bus to Greenfield, Massachusetts. There is a Peter Pan Bus terminal with services to Springfield, Boston, and other locations in New England.

Rail

Passenger rail service for Northampton and the surrounding area is provided by Amtrak's Vermonter from a platform that is located just to the south of the Union Station building. More frequent service is available from Springfield Union Station, which is about a 25-minute drive south of Northampton and houses the Peter Pan Bus terminal in Springfield.
Amtrak restored passenger service to this line in 2014. In 2019, Northampton became a stop on the New Haven–Springfield Shuttle in a pilot program running from New Haven, Connecticut to Greenfield with adjacent station stops there northerly and Holyoke to the south, respectively.
Rail freight transportation on the rail line through Northampton, which is known as the Connecticut River Line, is operated by the Pan Am Railways.

Bicycle

Northampton serves as the hub of a growing rail trail network. The north-south Manhan Rail Trail extends from the downtown into neighboring Easthampton, and as part of the Farmington Canal Trail is planned eventually to reach New Haven, Connecticut. The Norwottuck Rail Trail runs eastward from Woodmont Road through Hadley, Amherst, and into Belchertown, with planned future integration into the Central Mass Rail Trail to Boston. To the west, the Northampton Bikeway provides access to the city's Florence and Leeds neighborhoods, including a route through historic Look Park, while downtown, the bikeway provides an alternative to the congested King and Main Streets.

Points of interest

Cultural references

Setting for literary works and songs:
Shooting location for films: