Northampton, Massachusetts

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

History

The area now known as Northampton was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. They called it Norwottuck, or Nonotuck, meaning: "the midst of the river." Colonial Northampton was founded in 1654 by settlers from Springfield, Massachusetts. Initial cooperation between the settlers and the Natives gave way to conflict, evidence of which can today be seen most clearly in nearby Historic Deerfield. Northampton hosted its own witch trials in the 18th century, although no (accused) witches were executed. Members of the community were among the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. (See the external link to Historic Northampton below for more.)

A flood on the Mill River on May 16, 1874, killed 51 people in the village of Leeds in the township of Northampton.

Northampton, which was incorporated as a city in 1883, developed into a thriving community and a local center for commerce, education, and the arts, even supporting a still-extant opera house, (though it now functions as an independent movie theatre) the Academy of Music. In 1851, opera singer Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale", declared it to be the "Paradise of America". Among the city's famous residents are: author William Cullen Bryant, the fire and brimstone preacher Jonathan Edwards; the ascetic health guru Sylvester Graham, namesake of the Graham Cracker; children's author and illustrator Eric Carle; Sojourner Truth, African American abolitionist and orator; Lydia Maria Child, authoress of the Thanksgiving poem "Over the River and Through the Woods"; musicians Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth; and Calvin Coolidge, who served as mayor of Northampton before becoming governor of Massachusetts and U.S. president. The first game of women's basketball was played there in 1892, at Smith College. Immigrant groups that settled here in large numbers included Irish, Polish, and French-Canadian; in more recent years, Puerto Ricans, Indians, Vietnamese and Cambodians have continued to enrich the cultural mosaic. Segments of the 1966 film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? were filmed in and around Northampton during the fall of 1965. When not filming, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton frequented Northampton's Academy of Music, where they sat in the balcony to watch a good movie. Other films filmed in Northampton include Academy Award winner Cider House Rules and Malice with Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin.

Northampton today is a popular destination for tourists, who come to sample the city's shopping and restaurants. It remains a showplace for the arts, and was rated as the top "Small Arts Town" in the country by travel writer John Villani, author of "The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America" (3rd edition, published by John Muir Publications). It is an open and tolerant community, and is home to a sizeable lesbian community, earning it the nickname, "Lesbianville, USA". Author Tracy Kidder documented the many layers of Northampton society at the end of the 20th century in his nonfiction book Home Town.

Geography

Northampton sits on the banks of the Connecticut River, in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. It is located at (42.327389, -72.657677).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 92.2 km² (35.6 mi²). 89.3 km² (34.5 mi²) of it is land and 3.0 km² (1.1 mi²) of it (3.20%) is water.

Inclusive within the city limits are the villages of Florence, Bay State and Leeds. It is bordered to the north by the towns of Hatfield, and Williamsburg, to the south by Holyoke, across the Connecticut to the east Hadley, and to the west Easthampton.

Politics

Northampton is also considered by many as something of a liberal mecca, due in large part to the five colleges in the area and the city's large GLBT community. Smith College which has an extremely active progressive and lesbian community is part of the center of the city's activities. In addition, nearby Hampshire College's extremely progressive and active gay population also adds to the diversity of the area.

The city is home to the national office of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, a civil liberties advocacy group. The antipsychiatry community and advocacy group Freedom Center also operates out of Northampton.

Northampton is also home to a low-power FM community radio station, Valley Free Radio, which took to the airwaves in August, 2005.

As of 2006, Mary Clare Higgins is the Mayor.

Attractions

Smith College is a women's college (one of the Seven Sisters) founded in 1871. It is also one of the Five Colleges.
Clarke School For The Deaf specializes in oral education (speech and lip-reading, as opposed to signing), and holds an annual summer camp, the theme varying from summer to summer.
Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, Rainbow Beach, Roberts Hill Conservation Area, Mineral Hills Conservation Area, and Saw Mill Hills Conservation Area provide a portion of the protected open space that covers 15% of the City.
Look Park is a 150-plus acre recreational park founded in 1930.
Northampton is becoming a rail trail hub. Currently, the Norwottuck Rail Trail extends ten miles from Northampton to Amherst and Belchertown, the 2.5 mile Northampton Bike Path extends from downtown Northampton to Florence, and the Manhan Rail Trail Spur extends 0.5 miles from Route 66 to Florence Road. Four other rail trail extensions are under construction, in the bidding process, or planned for the short term.
The Botanic Garden of Smith College is a diverse outdoor collection of trees, shrubs, and plants, as well as a fine collection of plant conservatories for the tropics, semi-tropics, and desert regions. It also includes an indoor greenhouse.
The Three County Fair claims to be the "longest consecutive running agricultural fair in the country," having been established and incorporated in 1818.
Many various concerts. from classical to rock, folk, and other genres.
The Northampton Independent Film Festival (NIFF) is held each fall. It is one of the largest in New England.
The Academy of Music, built in 1890 by Edward H.R. Lyman, is the only municipally owned theatre in the nation, and was the first to be so owned; it is also one of the six oldest theatres, nationally. Boris Karloff and Harry Houdini (who installed a trap door in the stage) performed here. The Academy is still in operation today.
The Forbes Library built in 1894 is the public library for Northampton.
Mirage Studios, the Creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Franchise. In the TMNT series, the turtles and Casey Jones visit Casey Jones' grandmother's farm in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Each May, students from the Northampton Community Music Center (NCMC) fill the streets with music.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,978 people, 11,880 households, and 5,880 families residing in the city. The population density was 324.7/km² (841.0/mi²). There were 12,405 housing units at an average density of 139.0/km² (360.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.01% White, 2.08% African American, 0.30% Native American, 3.13% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.41% from other races, and 2.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.24% of the population.

There were 11,880 households out of which 22.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.7% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.5% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.0% under the age of 18, 15.4% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 75.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,808, and the median income for a family was $56,844. Males had a median income of $37,264 versus $30,728 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,022. About 5.7% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

Northampton has four elementary schools (kindergarten through 5th grade), one middle school (6th to 8th grade), one high school (9th to 12th grade), and one vocational-agricultural high school (9th to 12th grade).

External links

Cities in Massachusetts | Hampshire County, Massachusetts