Northampton, Massachusetts
Encyclopedia
The city of Northampton is the county seat
of Hampshire County, Massachusetts
, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, (excluding its outer, incorporated villages, Florence, Massachusetts
and Leeds, Massachusetts
,) was 28,549. Northampton is part of the Pioneer Valley
, and also 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 home to Smith College
and the Clarke School for the Deaf
. Smith students (along with those of the associated Five Colleges
) contribute to Northampton's "college town
" atmosphere.
Today, Northampton is known as an artistic, musical, and counter-culture hub. It features a large and politically influential LGBT
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-sized city (population 25,000-99,000) in the United States.
Northampton is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Area
, one of Massachusetts' two separate metropolitan areas. It sits approximately 15 miles north of the City of Springfield, Massachusetts
.
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, Massachusetts
in 1653, and settled the following year. The situation in the region further deteriorated when the Mohawk 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
.
, for example, was incorporated in 1775, and included parts of the territories of modern Montgomery
(which was itself incorporated in 1780) and Easthampton. Westhampton
was incorporated in 1778, and Easthampton
in 1809. Formerly, a section of Northampton called Smith's Ferry was separated from the rest of the town by the boundaries of Easthampton. The shortest path to downtown was on a road near the Connecticut River
oxbow
, which was subject to frequent flooding. Smith's Ferry was ceded to Holyoke, Massachusetts
in 1909.
in Northampton. It reached such intensity, in the winter of 1734 and the following spring, as to threaten the business of the town. 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.
Northampton hosted its own witch trials
in the 1700s, although no alleged witches were executed.
.
On August 29, 1786, Daniel Shays
and a group of Revolutionary War Veterans (who called themselves Shaysites), stopped the civil court from sitting in Northampton.
In 1805, a crowd of 15,000 gathered in Northampton to watch the executions of two Irishmen, Dominic Daley
, 34, and James Halligan, 27, convicted of murder. 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 & 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 & Halligan were exonerated of all crimes by governor Michael Dukakis
in 1984. Today, a simple stone landmark stands, marking the site of Daley & 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, destroyed almost the entire Northampton neighborhood of Leeds
.
, a former slave who became a national advocate for equality and justice, lived in this community until its dissolution, (and later in a house on Park Street until 1857.)
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 School for the Deaf
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
, Gloria Steinem
, Madeleine L'Engle
and Julia Child
. The first game of women's basketball
was played at Smith College in 1892.
Northampton was incorporated as a city in 1883.
Immigrant
groups that settled Northampton in large numbers included Irish
, Polish
, and French-Canadian.
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
worked as a lawyer in Northampton, and served as the city's mayor from 1910–1912, before moving on to the White House. After retiring from the U.S. Presidency in 1929, Coolidge moved back to Northampton. He died in the city on January 5, 1933.
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, particularly when compounded with the decline of Springfield's manufacturing sector, Holyoke's paper industry, and massive plant closures in the nearby New York Capital District.
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 ranked as the #1 arts fair in America, and is a national juried showcase for contemporary craft and fine art.
An extant opera house, the Academy of Music
. an 800 seat theatre operates as one venue for local productions. The Iron Horse Music hall, Northampton Community Music Center and Acardia Players serve as musical venues as well.
As Smith College is one of the Five Colleges
in western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley
region, (the others are Hampshire College
, Amherst College
, University of Massachusetts Amherst
, and Mount Holyoke College
) Northampton has a particularly vibrant youth culture. Its downtown street scene is populated by counter-culture artists, street musicians, and political activists.
Northampton has a well-established music scene. The city features live music venues such as the Calvin Theater, Pines Theater, Pearl Street, Iron Horse Music Hall, The Elevens, and The Academy of Music
. Musicians and bands that refer to the area as "home" include Sonic Youth
, Lord Jeff, Mobius Band, Erin McKeown
, The Nields
, The Young@Heart Chorus
, Cordelia's Dad
, Greenstreet Brew, and Sore Eros
.
, in the Pioneer Valley
of Western Massachusetts
. It is located at 42°19′39"N 72°39′28"W.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 35.6 square miles (92.2 km²), of which 34.5 square miles (89.4 km²) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²) (3.20%) is water. 21% of the city is permanently protected open space
Within Northampton's city limits are the incorporated 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
(across the Connecticut River
); 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 7.86 miles (12.6 km) east of Northampton, next to Hadley. Springfield
, the Connecticut River Valley's most populous city, is located 15.74 miles (25.3 km) southeast of Northampton. Boston is located 81.57 miles (131.3 km) east of Northampton. New York City is 131.28 miles (211.3 km) southeast of Northampton.
The Connecticut River's famous Oxbow
is within Northampton's city limits, at the northern base of Mount Nonotuck
.
of 2000, there were 28,978 people, 11,880 households, and 5,880 families residing in the city. Northampton has the most lesbian couples per capita of any city in the US. The population density
was 841.0 people per square mile (324.7/km²). There were 12,405 housing units at an average density of 360.0 per square mile (139.0/km²). 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's public schools include four elementary school
s (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). There are a few charter schools and several private schools in Northampton and surrounding towns.
According to the website ePodunk's Gay Index, which is based on figures from the 2000 U.S. Census, Northampton has a score of 535 vs. a national average score of 100, (i.e. Northampton's population includes 535% more GLBT people than the average American place.)
and James "Big Jim" Cahillane who served from 1954 to 1960. Also well known Judge Sean M. Dunphy was the youngest elected mayor in its history at age 28.
The Paradise City Forum was founded November 2001 to provide a nonpartisan discussion tool for the community.
, 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.
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority
operates several local passenger buses which originate in Northampton, with service to local towns such as Amherst
,
Williamsburg
, Hadley
,
South Hadley
and Holyoke
, as well as nearby universities, such as 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. The Vermont Transit Lines
bus also serves this terminal.
At present, passenger railway service to the Northampton area is provided by Amtrak
via the Springfield Union Station, about a 20-minute drive south of Northampton, or a short walk from the Peter Ban Bus terminal in Springfield.
The only active rail line through Northampton is operated by a Class 2 railroad regional railway, Pan Am Railways
(formerly known as Guilford Rail System). The Amtrak Montrealer was the last passenger train to run through Northampton in 1988.
Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
includes $8 billion for rail, of which $70 million will be spent to realign the Amtrak's Vermonter
route. The Vermonter now travels from Springfield to Brattleboro, Vermont
via Palmer, Massachusetts
,
but in the future will take the original more direct Montrealer route through Northampton. In addition to restoring the Northampton stop, stops will
be added at Greenfield and possibly Holyoke.
Major domestic and limited international service is available 40 miles to the south at Bradley International Airport
(BDL) in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
.
Northampton Airport, identified by the airport code 7B2, offers a 3365 X 50 foot runway and is within a mile-and-a-half walk from downtown.
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. 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 a much-needed alternative to the congested King and Main Streets.
The city of Northampton faces daily traffic congestion in the downtown area and connector roads often resulting in long delays and traffic build-up. The limitation of one bridge, one highway to nearby city of Amherst, MA and a narrow main street results in unsafe driving behavior and danger to pedestrians. The City of Northampton is attempting to solve this long-occurring problem by redesigning problematic intersections and installing traffic cameras.
for three commercial radio stations: WLZX
, 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. WXOJ broadcasts music, news, and public affairs to listeners at 103.3FM. Northampton is also the birthplace of The Rainbow Times, the only lesbian-owned LGBT newspaper (found in 2006), which serves New England. According to the U.S. Census 2000, Northampton is the second gayest zip code in Massachusetts, followed by Boston, MA. In addition, Northampton is home to Northampton Community Television, which has existed in numerous forms since the mid-1980s, but which 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.
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Hampshire County, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 152,251 people, 55,991 households, and 33,818 families residing in the county. The population density was 288 people per square mile . There were 58,644 housing units at an average density of 111 per square mile...
, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, (excluding its outer, incorporated villages, Florence, Massachusetts
Florence, Massachusetts
Florence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, near Westhampton and Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.-The naming of Florence, Massachusetts:The name "Florence" was suggested by neurologist Dr...
and Leeds, Massachusetts
Leeds, Massachusetts
Leeds is a neighborhood in the western portion of the city of Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, bordering Williamsburg--along the Mill River—and Florence....
,) was 28,549. Northampton is part of the Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
, and also one of the northernmost cities in the Knowledge Corridor
Knowledge Corridor
The Knowledge Corridor is term for the area comprising north-central Connecticut and the south-central Connecticut River Valley in Western Massachusetts...
- a cross-state cultural and economic partnership with other Connecticut River Valley cities and towns.
Northampton is home to Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
and the Clarke School for the Deaf
Clarke School for the Deaf
Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, formerly Clarke School for the Deaf, is a private school located in Northampton, Massachusetts that specializes in educating deaf children using the oral method through the assistance of hearing aids and cochlear implants...
. Smith students (along with those of the associated Five Colleges
Five Colleges (Massachusetts)
The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...
) contribute to Northampton's "college town
College town
A college town or university town is a community which is dominated by its university population...
" atmosphere.
Today, Northampton is known as an artistic, musical, and counter-culture hub. It features a large and politically influential LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
community, along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations. Based on U.S. Census demographics, election returns, and other criteria, the website Epodunk
EPodunk
ePodunk is a website that profiles communities in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the UK. It provides geocoded information that includes local museums, attractions, parks, colleges, libraries, cemeteries and other features, as well as local history and trivia...
rates Northampton as the most politically liberal medium-sized city (population 25,000-99,000) in the United States.
Northampton is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Area
Springfield, Massachusetts metropolitan area
The Springfield Metropolitan Area is a region that is socio-economically and culturally tied to the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the Springfield metropolitan statistical area as consisting of three counties in Western Massachusetts. As of...
, one of Massachusetts' two separate metropolitan areas. It sits approximately 15 miles north of the City of Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
.
Early Settlement
The area now called Northampton was once known as Norwottuck, or Nonotuck, meaning "the midst of the river" by its original Pocumtuc inhabitants. According to various accounts, Northampton was named by John King (1629–1703), one of its original settlers, or possibly in his honor, since it is supposed that he came to Massachusetts from Northampton, England (Allen 9, Dwight 10, Leach 124).The Pocumtuc confederacy occupied the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
Valley, from what is now southern Vermont and New Hampshire into northern Connecticut. The Pocumtuc tribes were Algonquian
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
, and traditionally allied with the Mahican
Mahican
The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...
confederacy to the west. By 1606, an ongoing struggle between the Mahican and Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
confederacies led to direct attacks on the Pocumtuc by the Iroquoian Mohawk nation
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
. 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
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
and English settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
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, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
in 1653, and settled the following year. The situation in the region further deteriorated when the Mohawk 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
King Philip's War
King Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies in 1675–76. The war is named after the main leader of the...
.
The Partition of Northampton
Northampton's territory would be enlarged beyond the original settlement, but later portions would be carved up into separate cities, towns, and municipalities. SouthamptonSouthampton, Massachusetts
Southampton is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It was established first as a district of Northampton in 1753. It was incorporated in 1753. The name Southampton was given to it during its first town meeting in 1773. Its ZIP code is 01073...
, for example, was incorporated in 1775, and included parts of the territories of modern Montgomery
Montgomery, Massachusetts
Montgomery is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 838 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
(which was itself incorporated in 1780) and Easthampton. Westhampton
Westhampton, Massachusetts
Westhampton is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,607 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
was incorporated in 1778, and Easthampton
Easthampton, Massachusetts
Easthampton is the second largest city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is on the southeastern edge of an area called the Pioneer Valley near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst, MA...
in 1809. Formerly, a section of Northampton called Smith's Ferry was separated from the rest of the town by the boundaries of Easthampton. The shortest path to downtown was on a road near the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
oxbow
The Oxbow (Connecticut River)
The Oxbow is an extension of the Connecticut River, located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is famous for its appearance in the 1836 painting The Oxbow by Thomas Cole.-History:...
, which was subject to frequent flooding. Smith's Ferry was ceded to Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...
in 1909.
The Great Awakening
In 1733, Congregational preacher Jonathan Edwards started a Christian revivalChristian revival
Christian revival is a term that generally refers to a specific period of increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or many churches, either regionally or globally...
in Northampton. It reached such intensity, in the winter of 1734 and the following spring, as to threaten the business of the town. 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
Great Awakening
The term Great Awakening is used to refer to a period of religious revival in American religious history. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religious enthusiasm occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century...
, under the leadership of Edwards.
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
in the 1700s, although no alleged witches were executed.
After the Revolution
Members of the Northampton community were present at the Constitutional ConventionPhiladelphia Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from...
.
On August 29, 1786, Daniel Shays
Daniel Shays
Daniel Shays was an American soldier, revolutionary, and farmer famous for leading the Shays' Rebellion.-Early life:...
and a group of Revolutionary War Veterans (who called themselves Shaysites), stopped the civil court from sitting in Northampton.
In 1805, a crowd of 15,000 gathered in Northampton to watch the executions of two Irishmen, Dominic Daley
Dominic Daley
Dominic Daley was an Irishman who emigrated to America and lived and worked in Boston. He and James Halligan were arrested on November 12, 1805 and convicted for the murder of Marcus Lyon. They protested their innocence, Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, a priest from Boston came, with great...
, 34, and James Halligan, 27, convicted of murder. 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 & 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 & Halligan were exonerated of all crimes by governor Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
in 1984. Today, a simple stone landmark stands, marking the site of Daley & Halligan's executions.
In 1835, Northampton was linked to the ocean by the New Haven and Northampton Canal
Hampshire and Hampden Canal
The Hampshire and Hampden Canal was the Massachusetts segment of an canal that once connected New Haven, Connecticut to the Connecticut River north of Northampton, Massachusetts...
, 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, destroyed almost the entire Northampton neighborhood of Leeds
Leeds, Massachusetts
Leeds is a neighborhood in the western portion of the city of Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, bordering Williamsburg--along the Mill River—and Florence....
.
The "Paradise of America"
From 1832 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 TruthSojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth was the self-given name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she...
, a former slave who became a national advocate for equality and justice, lived in this community until its dissolution, (and later in a house on Park Street until 1857.)
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
, the "Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Nightingale", declared Northampton to be the "Paradise of America," from which Northampton took its nickname The Paradise City.
Clarke School for the Deaf
Clarke School for the Deaf
Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, formerly Clarke School for the Deaf, is a private school located in Northampton, Massachusetts that specializes in educating deaf children using the oral method through the assistance of hearing aids and cochlear implants...
was founded in Northampton in 1867. It was the United States' first permanent oral school for the deaf. Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
and Grace Coolidge
Grace Coolidge
Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge was the wife of Calvin Coolidge and First Lady of the United States from 1923 to 1929.-Biography:...
have served as heads of school.
Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
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
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
, Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
and Julia Child
Julia Child
Julia Child was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for introducing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which...
. The first game of women's basketball
Women's basketball
Women's basketball is one of the few women's sports that developed in tandem with its men's counterpart. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast , in large part via women's colleges...
was played at Smith College in 1892.
Northampton was incorporated as a city in 1883.
Immigrant
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
groups that settled Northampton in large numbers included Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and French-Canadian.
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
worked as a lawyer in Northampton, and served as the city's mayor from 1910–1912, before moving on to the White House. 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, peaking in the 1970s, related to the emergence of the Rust BeltRust Belt
The Rust Belt is a term that gained currency in the 1980s as the informal description of an area straddling the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, in which local economies traditionally garnered an increased manufacturing sector to add jobs and corporate profits...
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, particularly when compounded with the decline of Springfield's manufacturing sector, Holyoke's paper industry, and massive plant closures in the nearby New York Capital District.
The Cultural Renaissance of NoHo
Today, Northampton is a thriving cultural center and an increasingly popular tourist destination. "NoHo" as many call the city, attracts patrons to its many eclectic restaurants and its lively arts and music scenes. Northampton has a particularly high number of restaurants per capita, which feature a wide range of ethnic foods. Two Northampton Farmers' Markets, held weekly, sell fresh produce from local farms.Since 1995 Northampton has been home to the twice-yearly Paradise City Arts Festival, held at the Three County Fairgrounds on Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
Weekend and Columbus Day
Columbus Day
Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday...
Weekend. The Festival is ranked as the #1 arts fair in America, and is a national juried showcase for contemporary craft and fine art.
An extant opera house, the Academy of Music
Academy of Music Theatre
The Academy of Music Theatre is located in and owned by the City of Northampton, Massachusetts, which received the deed in 1892 from former owner and builder Edward H. R. Lyman...
. an 800 seat theatre operates as one venue for local productions. The Iron Horse Music hall, Northampton Community Music Center and Acardia Players serve as musical venues as well.
As Smith College is one of the Five Colleges
Five Colleges (Massachusetts)
The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...
in western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
region, (the others are Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
, Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
, and Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
) Northampton has a particularly vibrant youth culture. Its downtown street scene is populated by counter-culture artists, street musicians, and political activists.
Northampton has a well-established music scene. The city features live music venues such as the Calvin Theater, Pines Theater, Pearl Street, Iron Horse Music Hall, The Elevens, and The Academy of Music
Academy of Music Theatre
The Academy of Music Theatre is located in and owned by the City of Northampton, Massachusetts, which received the deed in 1892 from former owner and builder Edward H. R. Lyman...
. Musicians and bands that refer to the area as "home" include Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Lord Jeff, Mobius Band, Erin McKeown
Erin McKeown
Erin McKeown is an American multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer/songwriter.McKeown began her career in the folk scene. She released her first album, Monday Morning Cold, on her own label , travelling throughout New England while still a student at Brown University in order to promote the...
, The Nields
The Nields
The Nields was a folk-rock band that performed from 1991 to 2001. It toured much of the United States, performing with artists such as Dar Williams, Moxy Früvous, and Catie Curtis and appeared at many folk festivals...
, The Young@Heart Chorus
Young@Heart
Young@Heart is an entertainment group created by and for the elderly, comprised at present of people at least 70 years of age. Some have prior professional theater or music experience, others have performed at amateur level, and some have no experience whatsoever...
, Cordelia's Dad
Cordelia's Dad
Cordelia's Dad is a band from Northampton, Massachusetts that combines folk and punk rock influences and was instrumental in the creation of the genre later to be dubbed "No Depression". The band formed in 1987 and was active until 1998, when the members relocated to different parts of the country...
, Greenstreet Brew, and Sore Eros
Sore Eros
Sore Eros is an American indie band originally as the solo project of Robert Robinson based in Enfield Connecticut. Branded as lo-fi, pop music with psychedelic elements, Sore Eros, primarily directed by Robinson, hosts the collaborative and musical support of Adam Langellotti, and additional...
.
Geography
Northampton sits on the banks of the Connecticut RiverConnecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
, in the Pioneer Valley
Pioneer Valley
The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley. The Pioneer Valley consists of three counties in Massachusetts which collectively feature much of New England's most fertile farmland...
of Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts
Western Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
. It is located at 42°19′39"N 72°39′28"W.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 35.6 square miles (92.2 km²), of which 34.5 square miles (89.4 km²) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²) (3.20%) is water. 21% of the city is permanently protected open space
Within Northampton's city limits are the incorporated villages of Florence
Florence, Massachusetts
Florence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, near Westhampton and Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.-The naming of Florence, Massachusetts:The name "Florence" was suggested by neurologist Dr...
and Leeds
Leeds, Massachusetts
Leeds is a neighborhood in the western portion of the city of Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, bordering Williamsburg--along the Mill River—and Florence....
.
Northampton is bordered to the north by the towns of Hatfield
Hatfield, Massachusetts
Hatfield is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,249 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
and Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Massachusetts
Williamsburg is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,482 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-The Mill River Flood:...
; to the west by Westhampton
Westhampton, Massachusetts
Westhampton is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,607 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
; to the east by Hadley
Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding...
(across the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
); and to the south by Easthampton
Easthampton, Massachusetts
Easthampton is the second largest city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is on the southeastern edge of an area called the Pioneer Valley near the five colleges in the college towns of Northampton and Amherst, MA...
.
The art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Calvin Coolidge Bridge
Calvin Coolidge Bridge
The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge is a major crossing of the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley. The bridge carries Route 9 across the river, where it connects to Interstate 91...
connects Northampton with Hadley across the Connecticut River. The college town of Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
is located 7.86 miles (12.6 km) east of Northampton, next to Hadley. Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, the Connecticut River Valley's most populous city, is located 15.74 miles (25.3 km) southeast of Northampton. Boston is located 81.57 miles (131.3 km) east of Northampton. New York City is 131.28 miles (211.3 km) southeast of Northampton.
The Connecticut River's famous Oxbow
The Oxbow (Connecticut River)
The Oxbow is an extension of the Connecticut River, located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is famous for its appearance in the 1836 painting The Oxbow by Thomas Cole.-History:...
is within Northampton's city limits, at the northern base of Mount Nonotuck
Mount Nonotuck
Mount Nonotuck, , is the northernmost peak of the Mount Tom Range of traprock mountains located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and part of the larger Metacomet Ridge which stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. Rugged and considered scenic, the peak rises...
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 28,978 people, 11,880 households, and 5,880 families residing in the city. Northampton has the most lesbian couples per capita of any city in the US. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 841.0 people per square mile (324.7/km²). There were 12,405 housing units at an average density of 360.0 per square mile (139.0/km²). 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
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 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
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
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's public schools include four elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s (kindergarten through 5th grade), one middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
(6th to 8th grade), one high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
(9th to 12th grade), and one vocational-agricultural high school
Vocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
(9th to 12th grade). There are a few charter schools and several private schools in Northampton and surrounding towns.
According to the website ePodunk's Gay Index, which is based on figures from the 2000 U.S. Census, Northampton has a score of 535 vs. a national average score of 100, (i.e. Northampton's population includes 535% more GLBT people than the average American place.)
Government
As of 2010, Mary Clare Higgins is the Mayor. Previous mayors include former president Calvin CoolidgeCalvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
and James "Big Jim" Cahillane who served from 1954 to 1960. Also well known Judge Sean M. Dunphy was the youngest elected mayor in its history at age 28.
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, 2008 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Number of Voters | Percentage |
Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
10,066 | 49.49% |
Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... |
994 | 4.89% |
Unaffiliated | 8,998 | 44.24% |
Minor Parties | 280 | 1.38% | |
| Total | 20,338 | 100% | |||||||||||||
Transportation
Northampton is served by Interstate 91Interstate 91
Interstate 91 is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of New England...
, which passes to the east of downtown along the Connecticut River. U.S. Route 5
U.S. Route 5
U.S. Route 5 is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Springfield, Massachusetts. From Hartford northward to St...
, Massachusetts Route 9, and Massachusetts Route 10
Massachusetts Route 10
Massachusetts Route 10 is a north–south state highway that runs from the state line at Southwick to the state line at Northfield.-Route description:Route 10 crosses the border from Granby, Connecticut into Southwick, Massachusetts, overlapped with US 202...
all intersect in the city's downtown area.
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority
Pioneer Valley Transit Authority
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority oversees and coordinates public transportation in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. Currently the PVTA offers fixed-route bus service as well as paratransit service for the elderly and disabled. The PVTA was created by Chapter 161B of the...
operates several local passenger buses which originate in Northampton, with service to local towns such as Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
,
Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Massachusetts
Williamsburg is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,482 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-The Mill River Flood:...
, Hadley
Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding...
,
South Hadley
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
and Holyoke
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range of mountains. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 39,880...
, as well as nearby universities, such as Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
and Hampshire College
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
. The Franklin Regional Transit Authority operates a bus to Greenfield, Massachusetts
Greenfield, Massachusetts
Greenfield is a city in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,456 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. Greenfield is home to Greenfield Community College, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Franklin County Fair...
. There is a Peter Pan Bus terminal with services to Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, Boston, and other locations in New England. The Vermont Transit Lines
Vermont Transit Lines
Vermont Transit Lines was a bus carrier company serving New England. Founded in 1929 by William Appleyard, it originally linked the towns of Barre and Burlington, Vermont, with stops along the route...
bus also serves this terminal.
At present, passenger railway service to the Northampton area is provided by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
via the Springfield Union Station, about a 20-minute drive south of Northampton, or a short walk from the Peter Ban Bus terminal in Springfield.
The only active rail line through Northampton is operated by a Class 2 railroad regional railway, Pan Am Railways
Pan Am Railways
Pan Am Railways, Inc. , known as Guilford Rail System before March 2006, is a holding company that owns and operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine to Rotterdam Junction, New York...
(formerly known as Guilford Rail System). The Amtrak Montrealer was the last passenger train to run through Northampton in 1988.
Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...
includes $8 billion for rail, of which $70 million will be spent to realign the Amtrak's Vermonter
Vermonter
Amtrak's Vermonter is a 611-mile passenger train service between St. Albans , New York City and Washington, D.C. One trip runs in each direction per day....
route. The Vermonter now travels from Springfield to Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state, along the state line with New Hampshire. The population was 12,046 at the 2010 census...
via Palmer, Massachusetts
Palmer, Massachusetts
The Town of Palmer is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,140 as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area...
,
but in the future will take the original more direct Montrealer route through Northampton. In addition to restoring the Northampton stop, stops will
be added at Greenfield and possibly Holyoke.
Major domestic and limited international service is available 40 miles to the south at Bradley International Airport
Bradley International Airport
Bradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....
(BDL) in Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Windsor Locks is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 12,043. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region. It is also the site of the New England Air Museum...
.
Northampton Airport, identified by the airport code 7B2, offers a 3365 X 50 foot runway and is within a mile-and-a-half walk from downtown.
Northampton serves as the hub of a growing rail trail network. The north-south Manhan Rail Trail
Manhan Rail Trail
The Manhan Rail Trail is a rails-to-trails paved recreational trail and non-motorized commuter route located in the lower Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts in the town of Easthampton. The long trail, completed in 2003, is part of a larger rails-to-trails project that would extend from New...
extends from the downtown into neighboring Easthampton, and, as part of the Farmington Canal Trail
Farmington Canal Trail
The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is an 80-mile multi-use rail trail located in Connecticut and Massachusetts.It follows the abandoned north-south right-of-way of the former New Haven and Northampton Company...
, is planned eventually to reach New Haven. The Norwottuck Rail Trail
Norwottuck Rail Trail
The Norwottuck Rail Trail is a combination bicycle/pedestrian paved right-of-way running from Northampton, Massachusetts, through Hadley and Amherst, to Belchertown, Massachusetts. It opened in 1992. No motor vehicles or horses are allowed.- Use :...
runs eastward from Woodmont Road through Hadley
Hadley
- People :Surname* Arthur Twining Hadley , American economist* George Hadley, meteorologist, hence also:** Hadley cell** Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research...
, Amherst
Amherst
- Higher education :*Amherst College, in Amherst, Massachusetts*University of Massachusetts Amherst- People :* Baron Amherst , in particular:** Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, 18th century British army officer...
, 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
Florence, Massachusetts
Florence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, near Westhampton and Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.-The naming of Florence, Massachusetts:The name "Florence" was suggested by neurologist Dr...
and Leeds
Leeds, Massachusetts
Leeds is a neighborhood in the western portion of the city of Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, bordering Williamsburg--along the Mill River—and Florence....
neighborhoods, including a route through historic Look Park
Look Park
Look Memorial Park, commonly referred to as Look Park, is a park in Florence, Massachusetts in Hampshire Country. The park is open year round.-History:...
, while downtown, the Bikeway provides a much-needed alternative to the congested King and Main Streets.
The city of Northampton faces daily traffic congestion in the downtown area and connector roads often resulting in long delays and traffic build-up. The limitation of one bridge, one highway to nearby city of Amherst, MA and a narrow main street results in unsafe driving behavior and danger to pedestrians. The City of Northampton is attempting to solve this long-occurring problem by redesigning problematic intersections and installing traffic cameras.
Media
The Daily Hampshire Gazette is based in Northampton, covering Hampshire and Franklin counties. Northampton is the city of licenseCity of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
for three commercial radio stations: WLZX
WLZX
WLZX is a Saga Communications Active Rock radio station in East Longmeadow, Ma, broadcasting at 99.3 FM. The station has an active rock format.- History :...
, WEIB
WEIB
WEIB is a radio station broadcasting a New AC /Smooth Jazz format. Licensed to Northampton, Massachusetts, USA, the station serves the Springfield MA area. The station is currently owned by Cutting Edge Broadcasting, Inc.....
and WHMP
WHMP
WHMP is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Northampton, Massachusetts, it serves the Pioneer Valley. It is currently owned by Saga Communications, and is repeated on WHNP in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and WHMQ in Greenfield, Massachusetts.WHNP and WHMQ previously...
. Northampton is also home to WXOJ-LP, a low power community radio
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
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
Prometheus Radio Project
The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit advocacy and community organizing group committed to building an inclusive and representative media landscape in the United States and around the world. They are working to create a network of low power community radio stations...
barnraising, in conjunction with the tenth annual Grassroots Radio Coalition
Grassroots Radio Coalition
The Grassroots Radio Coalition is a coalition of community media activists.The GRC has a mailing list and holds a conference every year, but has so far not incorporated. There are no dues, no hierarchy and no bylaws...
conference. WXOJ broadcasts music, news, and public affairs to listeners at 103.3FM. Northampton is also the birthplace of The Rainbow Times, the only lesbian-owned LGBT newspaper (found in 2006), which serves New England. According to the U.S. Census 2000, Northampton is the second gayest zip code in Massachusetts, followed by Boston, MA. In addition, Northampton is home to Northampton Community Television, which has existed in numerous forms since the mid-1980s, but which 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.
Points of interest
- First Church, located on Main Street, was the home church of Jonathan Edwards, 18th century theologian, philosopher and leader of the First Great AwakeningFirst Great AwakeningThe First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
. - Smith CollegeSmith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
is a women's collegeWomen's collegeWomen's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women...
(one of the Seven SistersSeven Sisters (colleges)The Seven Sisters are seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. They are Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College. All were founded between 1837 and...
) founded in 1871. It is also one of the Five CollegesFive Colleges (Massachusetts)The Five Colleges comprises four liberal arts colleges and one university in the Connecticut River Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, totaling approximately 28,000 students. The schools belong to a consortium called Five Colleges, Incorporated, established in 1965...
. - Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, formerly the Clarke School for the Deaf, specializes in oral education (speech and lip-reading, as opposed to signingAmerican Sign LanguageAmerican Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
), 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. - The Connecticut RiverConnecticut RiverThe Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
and The OxbowThe Oxbow (Connecticut River)The Oxbow is an extension of the Connecticut River, located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is famous for its appearance in the 1836 painting The Oxbow by Thomas Cole.-History:...
, are popular areas for boaters. - 21% of Northampton is protected open space; this includes: Broad Brook/Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, Connecticut River Greenway (Elwell and Rainbow Beach), Mill River Greenway, Mineral Hills Conservation Area, and Saw Mill Hills/Roberts Hill Conservation Area.
- Look ParkLook ParkLook Memorial Park, commonly referred to as Look Park, is a park in Florence, Massachusetts in Hampshire Country. The park is open year round.-History:...
is a 150+ acre recreational parkParkA park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
founded in 1930. The park is free for visitors arriving by foot or bicycle, consistent with the will of Frank Newhall Look, who left the property to the city and requested that the park would always have free admission for the public. A day use fee or annual membership fee provides for parking. Musicians play at the park's amphitheater, e.g. Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. - Childs Park is a serene 40 acre city park near Cooley Dickinson Hospital. It features two ponds, both formal and rose gardens, and an Italian-style garden house.
- The Botanic Garden of Smith CollegeThe Botanic Garden of Smith CollegeThe Botanic Garden of Smith College is located on the campus of Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. It consists of a fine selection of woody trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and an excellent collection of warm-weather plants in a set of historic conservatories...
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 greenhouseGreenhouseA greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
. - The Mill River Greenway is a walking path on Smith College and adjacent land along the Mill River, in the Bay State Village neighborhood of Northampton. The path is sometimes also called the Paradise Pond Trail based on a misleadingly named portion of the river near Smith College's boathouse and pier.
- Northampton is a rail trailRail trailA rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
hub. Currently, the Norwottuck Rail TrailNorwottuck Rail TrailThe Norwottuck Rail Trail is a combination bicycle/pedestrian paved right-of-way running from Northampton, Massachusetts, through Hadley and Amherst, to Belchertown, Massachusetts. It opened in 1992. No motor vehicles or horses are allowed.- Use :...
extends 18 miles from Leeds, FlorenceFlorence, MassachusettsFlorence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, near Westhampton and Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.-The naming of Florence, Massachusetts:The name "Florence" was suggested by neurologist Dr...
and downtown Northampton sections of Northampton to AmherstAmherst, MassachusettsAmherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
and BelchertownBelchertown, MassachusettsAs of the census of 2000, there were 12,968 people, 4,886 households, and 3,517 families residing in the town. The population density was 245.9 people per square mile . There were 5,050 housing units at an average density of 95.8 per square mile...
. The Manhan Rail TrailManhan Rail TrailThe Manhan Rail Trail is a rails-to-trails paved recreational trail and non-motorized commuter route located in the lower Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts in the town of Easthampton. The long trail, completed in 2003, is part of a larger rails-to-trails project that would extend from New...
extends 8 miles from the Norwottuck Rail Trail, through Northampton and Easthampton to Southampton. Four other rail trail extensions are in the planning process. - The Three County Fair is the "longest consecutive running agricultural fairAgricultural showAn agricultural show is a public event showcasing the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show , a trade fair, competitions, and entertainment...
in the country", having been established and incorporated in 1818. - The Calvin Theater, Iron Horse Music HallIron Horse Music HallThe Iron Horse Music Hall is a music venue located in Northampton, Massachusetts, west of Boston and north of Springfield, Massachusetts. Its motto is Music Alone Shall Live...
, and Pearl Street Nightclub are among the many venues that play host to Northampton's music scene. - The Academy of MusicAcademy of Music TheatreThe Academy of Music Theatre is located in and owned by the City of Northampton, Massachusetts, which received the deed in 1892 from former owner and builder Edward H. R. Lyman...
, built in 1890 by Edward H.R. Lyman, is the only municipally owned theatreTheater (structure)A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance , a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces...
in the United States, and is the first to be so owned. Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
and Harry HoudiniHarry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
(who installed a trap door in the stage) performed there. Today, it serves as a music venue, cinema, and performance space. - 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 now one of the largest in New England.
- Forbes Library built in 1894 is Northampton's public libraryPublic libraryA public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
. The second floor houses the Calvin CoolidgeCalvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
presidential library. - Mirage StudiosMirage StudiosMirage Studios is an independent American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, based in Northampton, Massachusetts and best known for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series.-History:...
, the Creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesThe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
Franchise. In the TMNT series, the turtles and Casey JonesCasey Jones (TMNT)Arnold Bernid "Casey" Jones is a character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Like the turtles, Casey Jones is a vigilante, and was created as a parody of vigilante characters that were in comics. Casey wears a hockey mask and cut-off biking gloves and carries his weapons in a golf bag...
visit Casey Jones' grandmother's farmFarmA farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
in Northampton, Massachusetts. - Northampton Community Music Center each May, students from the (NCMC) fill the streets with music.
- LGBT Pride, on the first Saturday of May, Northampton marks the annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March & Rally with a colorful parade down Main Street, ending with an all-day family-friendly festival at a designated location in town.
- Thornes Marketplace in downtown Northampton contains many shops and eateries.
- Northampton State HospitalNorthampton State HospitalNorthampton State Hospital was a historic Psychiatric hospital at 1 Prince Street on top of Hospital Hill outside of Northampton, Massachusetts...
was a massive mental asylumPsychiatric hospitalPsychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
, constructed in 1856. Several abandoned buildings remain; however, much of the site has been redeveloped. - On a small hill overlooking the city, near the site of the former Northampton State Hospital, a simple stone monument marks the spot of the hangings of Domenic Daley and James Halligan, two Irishmen wrongfully convicted of murder in 1806.
- Sylvester's Restaurant – Located at 111 Pleasant Street. Sylvester's is located in the former home of Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham Cracker. Sylvester's claimed top honors for breakfast in the Valley Advocate's "Best Of" reader's poll and since then, Sylvester's has consistently ranked among the top 3 contenders for assorted restaurant categories.
- Union Station Massachusetts is located at 125A Pleasant Street in Northampton's rail station. Union station used to be home to Union Station Restaurant and Spaghetti Freddy's, but both restaurants were closed in 2011.
- Mill River Market Place located on route 10 towards Easthampton
- Northampton Fire Department building, frequented for being the tallest fire fighting related building.
- Pioneer Valley Roller DerbyPioneer Valley Roller DerbyPioneer Valley Roller Derby is a roller derby league based in Northampton, Massachusetts. Founded in early 2006, the league was the first in the new flat-track roller derby movement that featured both women's and men's teams....
, the first co-ed flat track roller derby league, trains in the village of Florence, MassachusettsFlorence, MassachusettsFlorence is a village in the northwestern portion of the city of Northampton, near Westhampton and Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.-The naming of Florence, Massachusetts:The name "Florence" was suggested by neurologist Dr...
.
Notable people
- Lexie Barnes, author, designer, and co-founder of Twist craft fair
- Jeanne BirdsallJeanne BirdsallJeanne Birdsall is an American author awarded with the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2005 for her debut novel The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. She was raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and, while she decided to...
, children's author, best known for her debut novel, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting BoyThe Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting BoyThe Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy is the title of Jeanne Birdsall's debut fictional children's novel awarded with the 2005 National Book Award. The Penderwicks are made up of a father and four sisters, Batty, Jane, Skye and Rosalind , who are... - William Cullen BryantWilliam Cullen BryantWilliam Cullen Bryant was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.-Youth and education:...
, 19th century author and newspaper editor - Mary-Ellis BunimMary-Ellis BunimMary-Ellis Bunim was an American television producer and co-creator of MTV's The Real World and Road Rules.-Biography:A native of Massachusetts, Bunim began her career in daytime dramas...
, television producer and co-creator of MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's The Real WorldThe Real WorldThe Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
and Road RulesRoad RulesRoad Rules was an MTV reality show that debuted on July 19, 1995. The series, which was MTV's second reality show after The Real World followed six strangers between the ages of 18 and 24 after stripping them of their money and putting them on an RV traveling from location to location only guided... - Augusten BurroughsAugusten BurroughsAugusten Xon Burroughs is an American writer known for his New York Times bestselling memoir Running with Scissors .- Life :...
, author, his bestseller Running with Scissors describes his strange childhood in Northampton - Paul Johnson CalderonPaul Johnson CalderonPaul Johnson Calderon is an American socialite, reality show participant, and columnist known for starring along side Tinsley Mortimer in The CW's television series High Society. He has been coined by High Society as the Page Six scandal boy...
, socialite, heir, and television personality best known for co-starring on The CW's High SocietyHigh Society (reality show)High Society is reality show following the lives of Tinsley Mortimer, a Manhattan socialite, and her friends. It was originally scheduled to air every Wednesday at 9 pm after America's Next Top Model but due to low ratings the network decided to push it back half hour to air after Fly Girls. The... - Eric CarleEric CarleEric Carle is a children's book author and illustrator who is most famous for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has been translated into over 50 languages...
, children's book author and illustrator - Lydia Maria Child, author of the ThanksgivingThanksgiving (United States)Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
poem "Over the River and through the WoodsOver the River and through the Woods"Over the River and through the Woods" is a Thanksgiving song by Lydia Maria Child. Written originally as a poem, it appeared in her Flowers for Children, Volume 2, in 1844. The title of the poem is, "A Boy's Thanksgiving Day". It celebrates her childhood memories of visiting her Grandfather's House...
" - Chris CollingwoodChris CollingwoodChris Collingwood, born in 1967 in USA, is a singer, songwriter, and founding member of the power pop band Fountains of Wayne. Collingwood's major influences are The Beatles, The Zombies, The Hollies, Aztec Camera, Squeeze, and Blue Öyster Cult....
, lead singer of the band Fountains of WayneFountains of WayneFountains of Wayne is an American power pop band that formed in New York City in 1996. The band consists of members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter and Brian Young.-Early years:... - Carol T. ChristCarol T. ChristCarol Tecla Christ is the president of Smith College. Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, is a liberal arts college and one of the Seven Sisters colleges....
, PresidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Smith CollegeSmith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
and Victorian Literature Scholar - Calvin CoolidgeCalvin CoolidgeJohn Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
; served as mayor of Northampton before becoming governorGovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and U.S. president - Galaxy CrazeGalaxy CrazeGalaxy Craze is an actress. She moved to the United States with her mother in 1980. She appeared in a few independent films in the 1990s.She is a 1993 graduate of Barnard College....
, actress and author known for bestselling novel By the Shore. - Dennis Crommett, musician.
- Kevin EastmanKevin EastmanKevin Brooks Eastman is an American comic book artist and writer, best known as the creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Eastman is also the current owner, editor and publisher of the magazine Heavy Metal.-Early life:Eastman was born on May 30, 1962 in Springvale, Maine...
and Peter LairdPeter LairdPeter Alan Laird is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for co-creating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with writer and artist Kevin Eastman.-Early life and career:...
published Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesThe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
comics from their Northampton studio - Jonathan Edwards, 18c Congregational theologian, philosopher, leader of First Great AwakeningFirst Great AwakeningThe First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
and local pastor - Herbert GintisHerbert GintisHerbert Gintis is an American behavioral scientist, educator, and author. He is notable for his foundational views on Altruism, Cooperation, Epistemic Game Theory, Gene-culture coevolution, Efficiency wages, Strong reciprocity, and Human capital theory. Gintis has also written extensively on...
, economist - Sylvester GrahamSylvester GrahamThe Reverend Sylvester Graham was an American dietary reformer. He was born in Suffield, Connecticut as the 17th child of Reverend John Graham. Sylvester Graham was ordained in 1826 as a Presbyterian minister. He entered Amherst College in 1823 but did not graduate...
, advocate of vegetarianismVegetarianismVegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
and namesake of the Graham CrackerGraham crackerThe graham cracker was developed in 1829 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, by Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham. The true graham cracker is made with graham flour, a combination of fine-ground white flour and coarse-ground wheat bran and germ. Graham crackers are often used for making s'mores... - Jonathan HarrJonathan HarrJonathan Harr is an American writer, best known for A Civil Action.Harr was born in Beloit, Wisconsin. He lives and works in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he has taught nonfiction writing at Smith College. He is a former staff writer at New England Monthly and has written for The New Yorker...
, author of the A Civil ActionA Civil ActionA Civil Action is a 1998 American drama film starring John Travolta and Robert Duvall, based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Harr... - D. Dennis Hudson, emeritus professor and internationally known scholar of Indian religion
- Jonathan Hunt (Vermont Lieutenant Governor)Jonathan Hunt (Vermont lieutenant Governor)Jonathan Hunt was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, the son of Capt. Samuel Strong Hunt of Northampton and Ann Ellsworth of Windsor, Ct., and the great-great-grandson of Jonathan Hunt and his wife Mary Webster, daughter of Governor John Webster of the Connecticut Colony...
(1738–1808), early Vermont pioneer, landowner, officeholder, born Northampton - Jeph JacquesJeph JacquesJeph Jacques writes and illustrates the webcomic Questionable Content. He was born in Rockville, Maryland, and graduated from Hampshire College with a degree in music...
, creator of webcomic Questionable ContentQuestionable ContentQuestionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. It was launched on August 1, 2003. Jacques currently makes his living exclusively from QC merchandising and advertising, making him one of the few professional webcomic artists... - Tracy KidderTracy KidderJohn Tracy Kidder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer of the 1981 nonfiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation...
, author - Michael KlareMichael KlareMichael T. Klare is a Five Colleges professor of Peace and World Security Studies, whose department is located at Hampshire College, defense correspondent of The Nation magazine, and author of Resource Wars and Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Petroleum Dependency...
, author, professor and defense correspondent for The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation... - Griff Kohout, actor (ChuckChuck (TV series)Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
) - Megan E. Labonte, aka the Hoop Master Sass or Sass Master, street performer and artist
- Jason LoewensteinJason LoewensteinJason Loewenstein is an American alternative rock singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and a member of the indie-rock bands Sebadoh and The Fiery Furnaces...
, singer, songwriter with indie-rock bands SebadohSebadohSebadoh is an American indie rock band, formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr bass player Lou Barlow. Along with such bands as Pavement and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording...
and The Fiery FurnacesThe Fiery FurnacesThe Fiery Furnaces are a U.S. indie rock band formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The siblings are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago.- Band biography :... - Elinor LipmanElinor LipmanElinor Lipman is an American novelist and short story writer.-Biography:Born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Lipman graduated from Simmons College where she studied journalism. She lives in western Massachusetts and Manhattan, and received the New England Book award for fiction in 2001...
, author - David Lyman, actor (Friday Night LightsFriday Night Lights (TV series)Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama television series adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book and film of the same name. The series details events surrounding a high school football team based in fictional Dillon, Texas, with particular focus given to team...
) - Rachel MaddowRachel MaddowRachel Anne Maddow is an American television host and political commentator. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, aired on Air America Radio...
, radio personality, MSNBC television host, and liberal political commentator - Charles McCarryCharles McCarryCharles McCarry is an American writer primarily of spy fiction.-Life:McCarry served in the United States Army, where he was a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, has been a small-town newspaperman, and was a speechwriter in the Eisenhower administration. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the CIA,...
, author - Stu MillerStu MillerStuart Leonard Miller , is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals , Philadelphia Phillies , New York & San Francisco Giants , Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves...
, Major League Baseball pitcher - José MolinaJosé MolinaJosé Molina is the name of:*José Francisco Molina, Spanish football goalkeeper* José Molina from Puerto Rico* José Molina of the TV series Dark Angel, Firefly, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit...
, Former member, USA national Indoor field hockeyIndoor field hockeyIndoor field hockey is an indoor variant of "traditional" outdoor field hockey. It is not to be confused with other indoor hockey variants such as rink hockey or floorball....
team - William MonahanWilliam MonahanWilliam J. Monahan is an American screenwriter and novelist. His second produced screenplay was The Departed, a film which earned him a WGA award and an Academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay.-Writer and editor:...
, novelist and screenwriter - Thurston MooreThurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
and Kim GordonKim GordonKim Althea Gordon is an American musician, vocalist, artist, record producer, video director and actress. She has sung and played bass and guitar in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, and in Free Kitten with Julia Cafritz...
of the band Sonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City... - Jo Newman, actress (Love and Other DrugsLove and Other DrugsLove and Other Drugs is a 2010 romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Edward Zwick and based on the non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy...
; Gossip GirlGossip Girl (TV series)Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...
) - Lesléa NewmanLesléa NewmanLesléa Newman, born in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York, is an American author and editor. She is Jewish, a feminist and openly lesbian.She has written and edited 57 books and anthologies. She has written about such topics as being a Jew, body image and eating disorders, lesbianism, gay parenting, and...
, author of Heather Has Two MommiesHeather Has Two MommiesHeather Has Two Mommies is a children's book written by Lesléa Newman with Diana Souza's illustrations, first published in 1989. It is about a child, Heather, raised by lesbian women: her biological mother, Jane, who gave birth to her after artificial insemination, and her biological mother's...
. - Nerissa Nields, folk musician, author, and member of the band The NieldsThe NieldsThe Nields was a folk-rock band that performed from 1991 to 2001. It toured much of the United States, performing with artists such as Dar Williams, Moxy Früvous, and Catie Curtis and appeared at many folk festivals...
- Alix OlsonAlix OlsonAlix Olson is an American poet who works exclusively in spoken word. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997 and uses her work to address issues of capitalism, sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, transphobia, misogyny, and patriarchy...
, spoken word poet and owner of Subtle Sisters Productions - David PakmanDavid PakmanDavid Pakman is a radio and television host, best known as the host of the nationally syndicated political talk radio and TV program "The David Pakman Show".-Education:...
, host of the nationally syndicated political talk radio and TV program, "The David Pakman Show" - Dr. Kyle PruettKyle PruettDr. Kyle D. Pruett M.D. is an author of books and columns on parenting, and is a professor of Child Psychiatry at Yale University. This researcher and practicing psychiatrist was the host of the TV series Your Child Six to Twelve with Dr. Kyle Pruett. He has contributed to Good Housekeeping, Child,...
, author and child psychiatry expert - Nathaniel RaymondNathaniel RaymondNathaniel Raymond is an American human rights investigator, specializing in the prevention and detection of torture. Raymond is best known for his leadership of the anti-torture campaign at Physicians for Human Rights, and his usage of satellite surveillance in the South Sudan as part of the...
, human rights investigator and anti-torture advocate - Mary Rohlich, film and documentary producer on projects including Horrible BossesHorrible BossesHorrible Bosses is a 2011 black comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, based on a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx...
and FreakonomicsFreakonomicsFreakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything is a 2005 non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner. The book has been described as melding pop culture with economics, but has also been described as... - Jeffrey Rowland, creator of the webcomics Wigu and Overcompensating
- Liza SnyderLiza SnyderLiza Snyder is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of "Christine Hughes" on the CBS Network sitcom, Yes, Dear....
, actress (Yes, DearYes, DearYes, Dear is a television sitcom that aired from October 2, 2000, to February 15, 2006, on CBS. It starred Anthony Clark, Jean Louisa Kelly, Mike O'Malley and Liza Snyder....
; Pay It ForwardPay It ForwardPay It Forward is a 2000 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It was directed by Mimi Leder and written by Leslie Dixon...
) - Talisa SotoTalisa Soto-Early life:Born Miriam Soto in Brooklyn, New York, Soto is the youngest of four children born to an Italian mother and a Canadian father of Puerto Rican descent. Her parents later relocated to Northampton, Massachusetts where Soto and her siblings were raised and educated.-Modeling:At the age of...
, actress - Sojourner TruthSojourner TruthSojourner Truth was the self-given name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she...
, African American abolitionist and orator - Kurt VonnegutKurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
, author; died 2007 - Mo WillemsMo WillemsMo Willems is an American writer, animator, and children's books author/illustrator.-Early life:Willems was raised in New Orleans, where he graduated from Trinity Episcopal School and the Isidore Newman School. He graduated cum laude from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He married...
, popular children's book author - Dar WilliamsDar WilliamsDar Williams is an American singer-songwriter specializing in pop folk.She is a frequent performer at folk festivals and has toured with such artists as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Griffin, Ani DiFranco, The Nields, Shawn Colvin, Girlyman, Joan Baez, and Catie Curtis.-Biography:Williams was born...
, popular musician. - Andrew ZimbalistAndrew ZimbalistAndrew S. Zimbalist is an American economist. He is currently the Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College....
, prominent sports economist and father of JeffJeff ZimbalistJeffrey Leib Nettler Zimbalist is an American filmmaker best known for his films Favela Rising, The Two Escobars, and The Scribe of Urabá....
and Michael Zimbalist - Jeff ZimbalistJeff ZimbalistJeffrey Leib Nettler Zimbalist is an American filmmaker best known for his films Favela Rising, The Two Escobars, and The Scribe of Urabá....
, documentary filmmaker and Tribeca Film FestivalTribeca Film FestivalThe Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
award winner - Michael Zimbalist, documentary filmmaker and brother of Jeff ZimbalistJeff ZimbalistJeffrey Leib Nettler Zimbalist is an American filmmaker best known for his films Favela Rising, The Two Escobars, and The Scribe of Urabá....
- Nile Wentworth Comedian
Cultural references
- Northampton, Massachusetts is the birthplace of the eponymous protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in Henry JamesHenry JamesHenry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
's 1875 novel Roderick HudsonRoderick HudsonRoderick Hudson is a novel by Henry James. Originally published in 1875 as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly, it is a bildungsroman that traces the development of the title character, a sculptor.-Plot summary:...
. - Segments of the 1966 film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of the play of the same title by Edward Albee...
were filmed in and around Northampton during the fall of 1965. When not filming, Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
and Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
frequented Northampton's Academy of Music, where they sat in the balcony to watch movies. - Other films filmed in Northampton include the Academy-AwardAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning The Cider House RulesThe Cider House Rules (film)The Cider House Rules is a 1999 American drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on John Irving's novel of the same name. The film won two Academy Awards, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with four other nominations at the 72nd Academy Awards...
, MaliceMalice (film)Malice is a 1993 American thriller film directed by Harold Becker. The screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and Scott Frank is based on a story by Jonas McCord.-Plot:...
with Nicole KidmanNicole KidmanNicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
and Alec BaldwinAlec BaldwinAlexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
, In DreamsIn Dreams (film)In Dreams is a 1999 psychological thriller film directed by Neil Jordan. It stars Annette Bening as a New England illustrator who begins experiencing visions of a missing child who turns out to be her own daughter; through her dreams, she begins having psychic connections to a serial killer ...
with Annette BeningAnnette BeningAnnette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...
and Robert Downey Jr.Robert Downey Jr.Robert John Downey, Jr. is an American actor. Downey made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five when he appeared in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the...
, and SylviaSylvia (2003 film)Sylvia is a 2003 British biographical drama film directed by Christine Jeffs and starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Jared Harris, and Michael Gambon. It tells the true story of the romance between prominent poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes...
with Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
. - Edge of Darkness was filmed in October 2008 in Northampton and the surrounding area.
- It is also the headquarters for Mirage StudiosMirage StudiosMirage Studios is an independent American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, based in Northampton, Massachusetts and best known for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series.-History:...
former owners and the publishers of the comic until their last scheduled book in April 2010 - Author Tracy KidderTracy KidderJohn Tracy Kidder is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer of the 1981 nonfiction narrative, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation...
documented the many layers of Northampton society at the end of the 20th century in his nonfiction book Home Town. - Webcomics Questionable ContentQuestionable ContentQuestionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. It was launched on August 1, 2003. Jacques currently makes his living exclusively from QC merchandising and advertising, making him one of the few professional webcomic artists...
and Minimalist Stick Figure Theatre take place primarily in Northampton. - Artist Jeffrey Rowlands makes his home in Northampton and is primarily famous for his Overcompensating Comic.
- The main events of Running with Scissors, a 2002 memoir by Augusten Burroughs detailing his bizarre childhood, take place in Northampton
External links
- City of Northampton's official website
- VisitNorthampton.net - Official Website of Northampton, MA - Everything about Northampton, MA (city guide website)
- Northampton Chamber of Commerce (city guide website)
- Northampton GLBT city guide
- Watch Videos about Northampton and find the best places to visit, dine and shop. (city guide website)
- Smith College
- Northampton Public Schools
- Forbes Library (Northampton)
- Historic Northampton (historical society website)
- Northampton Community Television – NCTV
- Daily Hampshire Gazette, the (Northampton newspaper)
- The Rainbow Times, Only Local LGBT Newspaper, (established in 2006)
- Midweek Politics, a nationally-syndicated political radio show produced and broadcast from Northampton, Massachusetts.
- Valley Free Radio, a low-power FM community radioCommunity radioCommunity radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
station, has made its home in Northampton since August 2005. - Friends of Northampton Trails and Greenways, (established in 2006)