St. Joseph's School

St. Joseph's School is a threestory masonry building prominently situated at the northwest corner of Eagle Street (NR-1972) and Route 2 (Veterans Memorial Drive). It is bounded on the east by Eagle Street, on the south by Lincoln Street and Route 2, on the west by a former convent, and on the north by modern development. The structure stands as an anchor marking a major entrance to downtown North Adams. St. Joseph's School is characteristic of the Neo-Classical Revival style. The three-story building consists of a main mass, broken by a projecting gabled pavilion, and flanking wings which also project from the central block (Map-A). include a three story, square wing which was placed at the northwest corner in 1959 (Map-B).

There is also a more recent five story addition attached to the north elevation. Constructed in 1982, this wing is part of a certified rehabilitation project which was completed for the entire building complex. This addition is faced with brick and connected to the main building by a recessed aluminum and glass curtain wall (Map-C).- The original building rests on a partially exposed basement story which is fully incorpor- ated intó the design of the maïn building. The basement" and first story are constructed of coursed concrete blocks textured with coal and pink marble chips. The upper two stories are faced with buff brick; end elevation brick is laid in a geometric pattern. Separating the basement and second stories is a cast concrete, moulded water course.

first and second stories are divided by a concrete frieze and belt course inscribed 'Bonitatem et Disciplinam et Scientia Doce Une Domine."1 A wide plain cornice and simple parapet walls complete the roofline. The original main entrance is set within the gabled pavilion of the facade.

/Architect Architect: Unknown; Builder: D.J. Donahue Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) St. Joseph's School possesses integrity of location, design, materials, setting, and work- manship. Architecturally, the building is important as a rare survivor of Neo-Classical architecture in North Adams. Its historical significance derives from its origins in the late 19th century as the only Roman Catholic parochial school in a city whose economic base relied heavily on its Irish population to constitute much of the city's labor force. The school today is one of the few extant buildings reflecting this impor- tant immigrant heritage. Thus, St. Joseph's School meets Criteria A and C of the National Fegister of Historic Places.

Irish inmigrants first came to North Adams in 1830 to work in the first cotton print works factory that had been started by Caleb Turner in the 1820s. The town's substantial growth, in terms of its industrial development at this time, is attributable to these immigrants who constituted much of the work force. Newly established mills existed in such areas as "The Beaver"' (NR 1973), ''The Union" , Braytonville and Blackinton. By the mid 1850s large numbers of Roman Catholic Irishmen and their families had immigrated to North Adams, finding employment in the North Adams Iron Company, a wholesale shoe factory and/or the textile (wool and cotton) mills. For nearly two decades the Irish conmunity lacked a church.

In 1848 a mission was established by Father Cavanaigh, and mass was performed four times a year. Sixteen years later, land was purchased at the corner of Eagle and Union Streets, and in 1869, St. Francis Church was completed. The construction of the town's first Catholic church, together with the incorporation of North Adams in 1878 as a municipality separate from Adams, prompted plans for a parochial school.