Nomination for Freight Yard Historic District

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

1SNI Form 10-300 (July 1969) PH0005851 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE m NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) STATE: Massachusetts COUNTY: Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER JUN 1 3 1972 DATE NAME COMMON: Freight Yard ( Boston and Maine Freighthouse) Area AND/OR HISTORIC: Troy and Greenfield Railroad Depot and Freight Area LOCATION Congressional District 1 STREET AND NUMBER: CITY OR TOWN: North Adams STATE Massachusetts CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY (Check One) CODE COUNTY: 025 Berkshire CODE 003 OWNERSHIP STATUS District Site Building Structure - - Object Public Private Both Public Acquisition: In Process Being Considered Occupied - Unoccupied - Preservation work C in progress L ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC Yes: Restricted Unrestricted No PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Agricultural Government Commercial Industrial Educational Military Entertainment Museum OWNER OF PROPERTY OWNER'S NAME: Park Private Residence Religious Scientific X Transportation - Other (Specity) - Comments STREET AND NUMBER: CITY OR TOWN: ISTATE: CODE 5.

LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: Berkshire County Registry of Deeds STREET AND NUMBER: 65 Park Street CITY OR TOWN: Adams STATE Massachusetts CODE 025 6. REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS Inventory of the Historic Assets of the Commonwealth DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET AND NUMBER: Office of the Secretary, State House CITY OR TOWN: Boston STATE: Mass. CODE 025 STATE: Mass - COUNTY: Berkshire ENTRY NUMBER JUN I3 1972 DATE FOR NPS USE ONLY 7 DESCRIPTION (Check One) - Deteriorated CONDITION Excellent - Good X Fair (Check One) Ruins - Unexposed (Check One) Altered - Unaltered - Moved Origiral Site DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

The Freight Yard Historic District in North Adams lies just west of the Hadley Overpass and southwest of the Hoosac River. Turning south off Main Street on to the Curran Highway (Route 8) the road crosses the Boston and Maine railroad tracks by way of the Hadley Overpass. Before the overpass was built in 1940 the crossing was at grade level on State Street. Part of that red brick street still exists below the overpass. The freight yard area is reached by coming down off the south end of the overpass and taking the first right. About 125 feet further another right leads directly to the entrance of the area- There a three hundred foot driveway leads into a large open cobblestone courtyard. This is the center of the freight yard complex.

Starting about 150 feet down the driveway and continuing into the courtyard area there are three pitch-roofed, frame structures on the east side of the driveway, and a large pitch-roofed coal shed along the west side. On the northeast M side of the courtyard, at a 45' angle to the driveway, stands the 270 foot Boston and Maine Freighthouse. The cobblestone courtyard narrows to a road in the northwest corner and continues between two railroad sidings for four hundred feet before reaching the sixth structure in the freight yard area, a 24' x 175' barn-like storage building with pitched roofs. The historic district is quite isolated from the busy residential and commercial areas around it. This wasn't true in the days before the Hadley Overpass when the group of three C frame buildings fronted on State Street.

Today the elevated overpass together with the Hoosac River - bound the historic district on the east side, while retaining walls, a stone ledge - and some trees separate the freight yard area from residences A photograph taken around 1900 shows that the layout and structures of the freight yard area have changed very little in the last seventy years. Part of the three clapboard buildings grouped to the east of the driveway show up in an 1876 Atlas of Berkshire County as a lumber yard. In the 1888 insurance maps dihant tanyone poade the lumber yard appears again, this time under new management, and resembling the present configuration even more closely. By 1894 all the major elements of the present group are visible. Some part of each of these three-storey, clapboard structures is still used commercially.

The three-storey, pitched-roof coal shed on the west side of the drive does not appear in the 1876 Atlas but does show up on the 1888 insurance maps. Today it is used for storage. The freight house itself has changed in appearance and function since it was built in the 1860's. The 1876 Atlas shows it to be one hundred feet long and parallel to a siding that runs at a 45' angle to the main track. When built it served not only as the freight house, but also as the first passenger depot for the Troy and Greenfield Railroad. The Annual Report of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Form 10-300a (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Continuation Sheet) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER JUN 13 1972 DATE (Number all entries) 7.

(cont'a)^ NORTH ADAMS, Freight Yard Historic District Tunnel for 1877 reports, The depot at North Adams is a small wooden structure, built in 1864 for freight, and one end finished off for a passenger depot, and it is wholly inadequate for the present business. Ine situation seems eventually to have been remedied, for the 1888 insurance maps show the depot lengthened by 50 feet and platforms attached to the west (front) and north sides. 310 foot by 12 foot detached platform was constructed between the next two (west) sidings while a 60' x 15' freighthouse was erct lng te siding still further beyond. This marked the height of the period during which the building was used as a depot and freight house.

The next annual report oi the iroy and Greenfield Railroad announced the decision to build "a union passenger station at North Adams for the joint use of the Troy and Greenfield and the Pittsfield andNorth Adams Railroads." Ine result was the union Depot constructed a tew hundred yards east of the Troy and Greenfield Depot, on the other (east) side of the Hoosac River- The 1894 Atlas shows the freight house as it exists today,no longer used for passenger service but lengthened by a smaller, 99 foot addition to the northwest end. It has been moved slightly on its brick pier foundation so it now parallels the main tracks. The long narrow, barn-like storage building in the northwest corner of the district first appears on the 1894 Atlas. A large iron crane, over 15 feet high, still stands near the building in working order.

It was used for unloading cars on a siding in front of this building which has since been removed. -

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) Pre-Columbian! 15th Century 16th Century 17th Century 18th Century 19th Century 20th Century 'SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Abor iginal Education - Prehistoric Engineering Historic Industry Agriculture Invention Architecture Landscape Art Architecture Commerce Literature Communications - Military Conservation - Music Political Religion/Phi- losophy Science Sculpture Social/Human- itarian Theater X Transportation - Urban Planning Other (Specify) STATEMENT OF

Statement of significance

The North Adams Freight Yard Historic District is pri- marily of local historic significance, for the railroad it served was crucial to the development of North Adams- It also has some regional significance in that it is closely linked with the Hoosac Tunnel, the rail connection with Boston and the West and the rapid, post Civil War industrial growth of North Adams and surrounding communities. North Adams was isolated from the rest of Massachusetts by the mountains to the east; the same mountains that blocked easy access to the West (Troy, Albany, etc.) from Boston. Prior to 1825 serious thought was given to a canal through Berkshire County (Hoosac and Deerfield Rivers) connecting Boston with the Hudson River.

In July of 1825 a survey of the Hoosac and Deerfield was actually carried out, that same year the first railroad in America was completed and the idea aot of a canal was abandoned in favor of plans for a rail connection. Before the building of railroads, North Adams was more a New York than a Massachusetts town, and the entire mercantile trade of North Adams was with Troy: but when the Boston and Albany R.R. was completed (1842) it changed the condition of aflairs, for it passed through Pittsfield (1841), and thus brought North Adams within twenty miles of a thoroughfare to Boston, the metropolis of New England.1 In 1845 a committee was appointed in North Adams to confer with the directors of the Boston and Albany Railroad concern- ing the construction of a branch road from Pittsfield to North Adams. One year and$450,000.00 later the line was completed.

As North Adams profitted so greatly by the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad, it is but natural that the residents should have been enthusiastically in favor of a through line from Boston to the West that was to pierce Hoosac Mountain and intersect the town- In 1848 the Troy and Greenfield R.R. Co. was incorporated for the purpose of building a road from the terminus of the Fitchburg R.R. at Greenfield, through Hoosac

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Rowe, R-G- North Adams and Vicinity- Norris, Hamilton. History of North Adams. 1860. Spear, History of North Adams, Mass. 1749-1885- Tague, William H., et al. Berkshire- ( Pittsfield, 1961). North Adams, Its Representative Business Men and Points of Interest- ( Mercantile Illustrating Company, New York, 1894)- Annual Reports of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, 1876-79.

10 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY 0 DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY R OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES CORNER LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW NE 99 42° 41 50 73° 06' 56" SE SW APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: 5½ ILIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE: CODE COUNTY CODE STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE FORM PREPARED BY NAME AND TITLE: Bradford Paul Divedfon ORGANIZATION (Prepared for Mr. Donald Smith, Survey Director of Berkshire County.) 5/3/72 STREET AND NUMBER: Tyler Dennett House Williams College CITY OR TOWN: STATE Williamstown 12.

STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFICATION Massachusetts NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION CODE 025 As the des ignated State Liaison Officer for the Na- tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forthby the National Park Service. The recommended level of significance of this nomination is: National State Local I hereby certify that this property is included in the Nationa1 Register. Rotertu. Utlen Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Date 6/13/22 Name Title X. avoren OHN F. X.

DAVOREN ecretarv of the Commonwealth Chairman, Massachusetts Historical Commission ATTEST: Koeper of Thoftational Resistety Date Date 18 654430 4727 un Z UC Form 10-300a (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY (Continuation Sheet) ENTRY NUMBER DATE JUN 13 1912 (Number all entries) 8. (cont'd) NORTH ADAMS, Freight Yard Historic District Mountain and across North Adams to Williamstown, there to connect with a railway to Troy, New York.2 Work on the Hoosac Tunnel and the lines on each side of the mountain began in the early 1850's. The June 9, 1859 Transcript reported the arrival of the first train from Troy to North Adams.

THE EXCURSION - The Greeks took ancient Troy by reason of conveyance into the city in and by a wooden horse, while modern Trojans took North Adams last week Wednesday, having been conveyed into the village by and upon the iron horse - whose capacity above the wooden horse can no longer be questioned. But their mission was that of breaking the ice which has separated the Hoosac Valley and Troy.3 North Adams merchants, in testimony before the Massachusetts State Legislature, praised the railroad for cutting transportation costs and time between the two cities. The rail connection of Boston to Troy and Albany didn't come until 1875 with the opening of the Hoosac Tunnel. Between 1859 and 1875 the Freight Yard Historic District area was the eastern terminus of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad west of Hoosac Mountain.

In 1864 part of the present B&M Freighthouse was built as a passenger depot and freight area for the Troy- North Adams trains. This railroad station and freight area, like the city of North Adams, grew in size and importance as work on the Hoosac Tunnel progressed. Construction of the tunnel became an industry in itself, employing up to a thousanc day and night. ith the opening of the Hoosac Tunnel, the most direct route between Boston and Albany, passenger and freight traffic increased dramatically. growth oi this station and its freight area shown in the 1888 insurance maps reflects the kind of growth North Adams was experiencing at the time.

Historians describing this era of rapid industrial growth agree with this view expressed in 1894; The prosperity of North Adams was, of course, chiefly due to its possession of valuable water powers, but these would not have built up the place so rapidly and so extensively had it not been for the public spirit and liberality shown by prominent citizens in securing im- proved means of transportation.... the building of the railroads.

--...the steadily growing importance oi North Adams as a railway centre must be reckoned, for the Hoosac Tunnel route has been of great importance to her, and is surely destined to steadily increase in importance as the Form 10-300a (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Continuation Sheet) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER JUN 13 1972 DATE (Number all entries) 8. (cont'd) mercantile, manufacturing and agricultural interests of the country are destined to steadily increase in magnitude. The simple statement that North Adams is the northern term- inal of the Pittsfield & North Adams R.R.

and is on the line of the Troy & Greenfield R.R., conveys no adequate idea of the importance of the town as a railway centre, excepting to those who are familiar with the conditions of transportation between Massachusetts and the West. Cheap freight rates to and from the town from distant points are one oi the advantages now enjoyed; and the fact that North Adams is now the terminus of half a dozen important road lines, indicates the position she has attained fail- By 1909 twenty eight trains a day travelled between North Adams and Troy alone.

The passenger and freight facilities in the Freight Yard Historic District played a prominent role in the early: nineteenth century development of rail transportation in North On October 21, 1882 a train wreck in the freight yard injured 35 workmen en route to the Hoosac Tunnel and the want of a place to care for them lead to the establishment of the North Adams Hospital in 1884 with funds raised by popular subscription. Around the turn of the century the focus of rail- road activity in North Adams switched to the Union Depot a few hundred yards east of the Freight Yard District, across the Hoosac River.

Throughout the twentieth century the freight yard area continued to function as a commercial, freight and storage Today, because of Urban Renewal and private development the Freight Yard Historic District is all that is left of North Adams historic railroad yards, stations, roundhouses and freight facilities. 1 North Adams, Its Representative Business . Men and Points of Interest, (Mercantile Illustrating Company, New York, 1894), p-10. Ibid. 3 4 North Adams Iranscript, June 9, 1859. North Adams, Its Representative..-, Ibid, p. 10-11. JATE OF RECEIPT 6/2/72 DATA PAGE ^ 1 PHOTO (S) PHOTO DESCRIPTION (S) MAP (S) 1 MAP DESCRIPTION (S) LOGGED ACKNOWLEDGE_ 6/2/72 ESUBMIT SVIEW IISTORIAN PROPERTY FREIGHT YARD HIST. DIST, SIAIE MASE YES NO NUMBER REGISTER: JUN 13 1972 Berkshir co 2 42 62/72 Obag Haes 6/6122 RCHEOLOGIST ARCHITECT enbe 15-72 ISST.

KEEPER mule *EEPER 6/222 most unusual nomcnation. Mre lihe the shoved W9 RITER/EDITOR Teeds da ecupa atamp. IRECTOR, OAHP EDITORIAL PROCESSING, EDITOR Federal Registry Entry Logged JUN 1 3 1972 OMMENTS: 7/4/72 JUN 13 1972 Card Annual Edition Entry. WORKING NUMBER 6.2.72.836 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Silvio Conte. #1.). WIRTHMORE STORES 2. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE: PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with photogra NAME COMMON: AND/OR HISTORIC: LOCA TION STREET AND NUMBER: Freight Yard Historic Distri CITY OR TOWN: North Adams STATE: Massachusetts CODE COUN 025 PHOTO REFERENCE PHOTO CREDIT: Bradford Paul DATE OF PHOTO: 3/23/72 NEGATIVE FILED ATMasS. Historical Commission, Bos IDENTIFICATION DESCRIBE VIEW, DIRECTION, ETC.

Southern end of freight house, northern the three clapboard buildings grouped togeth in foreground. - LL 2 4 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORICPLACE PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with photogra NAME COMMON: AND/OR HISTORIC: LOCA TION STREET AND NUMBER: Freight Yard Historic Distri CITY OR TOWN: North Adams STATE: Massachusetts CODE 025 COUr PHOTO REFERENCE PHOTO CREDIT: Bradford Paul DATE OF PHOTO: 3/25/72 NEGATIVE FILED AT: Mass. Historical Commission, B IDENTIFICATION DESCRIBE VIEW, DIRECTION, ETC. View north up 300 foot driveway leadin center of district. Group of three pitched- on right, coal shed on left, freight house 4732 42'30" 6360 / NW (WILLIAMSTOWN) K KSBUKG SIATE/PARK Mauserts Pond 107- CLARKSBURG STATE FOREST Wheek Freight Yard Historic District North Adams, Massachusetts U.S.G.S.

(1960) Scale 1:24000 NORTH SADAMS eiver 13:06156 High Sch d42: 41:50m Ledge CENTRAL RIVER TUNNEL Cemeter - Form 10-301 (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY MAP FORM (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with map) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER JUN 13 1972 DATE 2. NAME COMMON: AND/OR HISTORIC: LOCATION STREET AND NUM BER: Freight Yard Historic District 3. CITY OR TOWN: North Adams STATE: Massachusetts MAP REFERENCE SOURCE: U.S.G.S. SCALE: 1:24000 DATE: 1960 REQUIREMENTS TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS 1. Property broundaries where required. 2. North arrow. 3. Latitude and longitude reference.

CODE 025 COUNTY: Berkshire CODE 003 Form 10-301 (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY MAP FORM (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with map) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER JUN 13 1972 DATE NAME COMMON: AND/OR HISTORIC: 2. LOCATION STREET AND NUM BER: Freight Yard Historic District CITY OR TOWN: North Adams STATE: Massachusetts CODE 025 MAP REFERENCE SOURCE: North Adams City Engineers. SCALE: Map made from aerial photographs. DATE: 1963 REQUIREMENTS TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS 1. Property broundaries where required. 2. North arrow. 3. Latitude and longitude reference. COUNTY: Berkshire CODE 003 ENSE PETIT SHS THANO ARRED John F. X.

Davoren Secretary of the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary Prate Hlouse, Boston 02133 May 26, 1972 Registration & Nominations Branch National Register of Historic Places Room 3207-A 1100 L Street, N. W. Washington, D. C. CERTIFIED MAIL -- URGENT Attention: Miss Mary Means Dear Sirs: Enclosed are National Register submissions for: Freight Yard Historic District, North Adams, Massachusetts. Monument Square-Eagle Street Historic District, North Adams, Massachusetts. These have been declared eligible for submission by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the State Review Board, and have been signed by Secretary of the Commonwealth, John F. X. Davoren, Chairman, Massachusetts Historical Commission and designated the State Liaison Officer.

We request that these two submissions receive your special attention since we understand application for historic preservation funds will be made to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sincerely yours, Rebordh.Hahf Richard W. Hale, Jr. Acting Chairman Massachusetts Historical Commission RWH/akc enclosures P B34-PHR July 14,1972 BASIC FILE RETAINED IN PHR cc: Director, Northeast Region I, Mr. Winge PHR WJMURTAGH: mdt Hiss Nancy Hanks Chatrnan National Endoment for The Arte 506 15th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20506 Dear Nency Hanks: Mrs. Walter Befnecke has informed me that you intend te assist a project to whiech she is interested in forth Adams which, I under- stand, is called the Hloosuck Cormumity Resources Projeet. I have persenally seen the freight yardazea and bulldings involved.

My sele purpose in writing is to let you know how delighted I am to kaew of your suppert and interest in this profect sinee it is a project with which we vould have interest as vell eoneerning the bulldings. Ihis is exactly the type of consortion of interest and action which I thinlwe can cellectively embark upon for the suppert and betterment of commumities throughout the country in projeete related to the arts and preservatton. As I promised yesterday at the National Collection of Pine Arte, I shall take the 1fberty of glving you a eall when I retur from the Nantucket Inetitute In early Auguat. Hopefully we mdght explere further at that time nutual interests along these 1fnes. It was nice seeing you yesterday. Sincerely youts, William J. Murtagh (Sgd.) W1111am J. Murtagh Keeper of the Nattonal Register Mr. Tersh Boasberg, Boasberg, Mughes, Smith & Kass, 1225 19th St.

N.W., Washington, D.C. Mrs. Walter BEinecke, c/o Sherborne Associates, Nantucket, Mass. ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATE MASSACHOSETTS Date Entered JUN 13 19/2 Name Location FreightTard Historic Dietrict North Adans Berkshize County Also Notified Hon. Edward M. Kennedy Hon. BdwezdN. Brooke Hon. Silvio o. Conte Director, Northeast Region HR NRowland:mm 6/8/72 State Lieison Officer Hon. John B. X. Davoren Secretary of the Commonwealth Chairman, Massachusetts Historical Conmienion Office of the Seczetary State House Boston, Massachusette 02133 Berkrhie ea. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Office of the Secretary of State 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 617-727-8470 MICHAEL JOSEPH CONNOLLY Secretary of State November 6, 1980 Jerry Rogers, Acting Keeper National Register HCRS 440 G. St. Nw Washington D.C. 20243 Dear Mr.

Rogers: The Massachusetts Historical Commission has recently received new information concerning the Freight Yard area in North Adams which was listed in the National Register on June 13, 1972. Please note the following changes. Building #1 is no longer U-shaped as the southern portion was demolished shortly after the nomination was made. Also Building #6 has a projection on its westerly rather than easterly side. Please refer to the attached maps Sincerely, Candace fenkins Candace Jemkins Registration Director DJ/1k RECEIVED NOV 1 7 1980 PLOME