Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, andcountercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations.[9] Based on U.S. Census demographics, election returns, and other criteria, the websiteEpodunk rates Northampton as the most politically liberal medium-size city (population 25,000–99,000) in the United States.[10] The city has a high proportion of residents who identify as gay and lesbian[11][12] and a high number of same-sex households[13] and is a popular destination for theLGBT community.[14][15]
Northampton was known as "Norwottuck", or "Nonotuck", meaning "the midst of the river",[16] named by its originalPocumtuc inhabitants. According to various accounts, Northampton was given its present name by John A. King (1629–1703), one of the first white settlers in Northampton, or possibly in King's honor, since it is supposed that he came to Massachusetts fromNorthampton, England, his birthplace.[17]
The Pocumtuc confederacy occupied theConnecticut River Valley from what is now southern Vermont andNew Hampshire into northernConnecticut. The Pocumtuc tribes wereAlgonquian and traditionally allied with theMahican confederacy to the west. By 1606 an ongoing struggle between the Mahican andIroquois confederacies led to direct attacks on the Pocumtuc by the IroquoianMohawk nation.[18] The Mahican confederacy had been defeated by 1628, limiting Pocumtuc access to trade routes to the west. The area suffered a majorsmallpox epidemic in the 1630s following the arrival of Dutch traders in theHudson Valley and New England settlers in theMassachusetts 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 fromSpringfield in 1653.[2]: 5–12
On May 18, 1653, a petition for township was approved by the general court of Springfield.[2]: 7 While some settlers visited the land in the fall of 1653, they waited till early spring 1654 to arrive and establish a permanent settlement.[2]: 15–16 [19] The situation in the region further deteriorated when theMohawk people escalated hostilities against thePocumtuc confederacy and otherAlgonquian tribes after 1655, forcing many of the plague-devastated Algonquian groups into defensive mergers.[18] This coincided with a souring of relations between theWampanoag and the Massachusetts Bay colonists, eventually leading to the expanded Algonquian alliance, which took part inKing Philip's War.
Northampton was part of theEquivalent Lands compromise.[20] Its territory was enlarged beyond the original settlement, but later portions would be carved up into separate cities, towns, and municipalities.Southampton, for example, was incorporated in 1775 and included parts of the territories of modernMontgomery (incorporated in 1780) andEasthampton.[21]Westhampton was incorporated in 1778 and Easthampton in 1809.[22] A hamlet of Northampton, calledSmith's Ferry, became separated from the rest of the city with the drawing of boundaries for Easthampton. Because the village was separated byMount Tom, the shortest path to from the downtown to this area was a road near the Connecticut Riveroxbow, which was frequently subject to flooding. This led to many services such as fire and police being provided by the city ofHolyoke rather than Northampton's own municipal departments, and after a number of negotiations between the two cities, Smith's Ferry was ceded toHolyoke in 1909 for a sum of $62,000.[23][24]
Congregational preacher, theologian and philosopherJonathan Edwards was a leading figure in a 1734Christian revival in Northampton. In the winter of 1734 and the following spring it reached such intensity that it threatened the town's businesses. In the spring of 1735 the movement began to subside and a reaction set in. But the relapse was brief, and the Northampton revival, which had spread through the Connecticut River Valley and whose fame had reached England and Scotland, was followed in 1739–1740 by theGreat Awakening, under the leadership of Edwards.[citation needed]
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 an uprising known asShays' Rebellion.[28]
In 1805 a crowd of 15,000 gathered in Northampton to watch the executions of two Irishmen convicted of murder:Dominic Daley, 34, andJames Halligan, 27. The crowd, composed largely of New EnglandWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestants, lit bonfires and expressed virulently anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiments. The trial evidence against Daley and Halligan was sparse, circumstantial, contrived, and perjurious.[29] The men were hanged on June 5, 1806, on Pancake Plain. Their bodies were denied a burial; they weredestroyed 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."[citation needed] Daley and Halligan were exonerated of all crimes by governorMichael Dukakis in 1984. Today a simple stone landmark stands marking the site of Daley and Halligan's executions.
In 1835 Northampton was linked to the ocean by theNew Haven and Northampton Canal, but the canal enterprise foundered and after about a decade was replaced by a railroad running along the same route.[30] A flood on theMill River on May 16, 1874, obliterated almost the entire Northamptonneighborhood of Leeds, killing 139 people in Leeds and areas of neighboring towns.[31]
From 1842[32] until 1846, Northampton was home to atranscendentalistutopian community ofabolitionists. Called theNorthampton 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 andsilk.Sojourner Truth, 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).[33]
Hampshire County Courthouse in Northampton, designed by architectHenry Franklin Kilburn.
In 1851, opera singerJenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale", declared Northampton to be the "Paradise of America", from which Northampton took its nickname "The Paradise City".[34]
Atheft of $1.6 million ($46.5 million in 2023) from the Northampton Bank took place on January 27, 1876.[38]
Northampton officially became a city on September 5, 1883, when voters accepted the city charter, "The act to establish the city of Northampton. 1883-Chapter 250," as passed and approved.[3][4]
Immigrant groups that settled Northampton in large numbers includedIrish,Polish, andFrench-Canadians. In 1890, a small number of German-Jewish families arrived in Northampton, most of them coming from New York or Boston. By 1905 there were almost 5000 foreign-born residents among the 20,000 people of the city.[39]
During the mid-20th century, Northampton experienced several decades of economic decline, bottoming in the 1970s,[citation needed] related to the emergence of theRust Belt phenomenon. Though western Massachusetts lies outside of the Rust Belt geographically, the centrality of commerce and the arts to Northampton's economy left it economically vulnerable, in particular when compounded with the decline of Springfield's manufacturing sector, Holyoke's paper industry, and massive plant closures in theNew York Capital District.
Beginning in the final decades of the twentieth century, Northampton saw a resurgence as a thriving cultural center and a popular tourist destination. The city has many eclectic restaurants and a lively arts and music scene. Three Northampton farmers markets, held weekly, sell fresh produce from local farms.[citation needed]
Since 1982, Northampton has been host to an annual LGBT Parade and Pride event held the first Saturday in May.[40]
Since 1995 Northampton has been home to the twice-yearly Paradise City Arts Festival,[41] held at the Three County Fairgrounds onMemorial Day weekend andColumbus Day weekend. The festival is a national juried showcase for contemporary craft and fine art.
Since 2004, Northampton has been the site of Django in June, a week-longgypsy jazz music camp held annually on the campus of Smith College.[42]
In recent years, downtown Northampton has seen a decline, with nearly one out of five storefronts being vacant as of September 2022.[43]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.8 square miles (92.6 km2), of which 34.2 square miles (88.7 km2) are land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2), or 4.22%, are water.[45] A total of 21% of the city is permanently protected open space.[46]
Within Northampton's city limits are the villages ofFlorence and Leeds.
Northampton is bordered to the north by the towns ofHatfield andWilliamsburg, to the west by Westhampton, to the east byHadley (across the Connecticut River), and to the south by Easthampton.
Theart decoCalvin Coolidge Bridge connects Northampton with Hadley across the Connecticut River. The college town ofAmherst is located 7 miles (11 km) east of Northampton, next to Hadley. Springfield, theConnecticut River Valley's most populous Massachusetts city, is located 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Northampton.Boston is 104 miles (167 km) by highway east of Northampton. New York City is 161 miles (259 km) southwest of Northampton.
The Connecticut River'sOxbow is within Northampton's city limits, at the northern base ofMount Nonotuck.
Northampton has ahumid continental climate (KöppenDfb), typical of western Massachusetts. Winters are cold and snowy, and summers are warm and humid. Precipitation is evenly distributed year-around, with an annual average of 46.14 inches (1,172 millimetres).[47]
Climate data for Northampton, Massachusetts (01060)
As of thecensus[62] of 2010, there were 28,549 people, 12,000 households, and 5,895 families residing in the city. Northampton has the most lesbian couples per capita of any city in the US.[63] The population density was 833.7 inhabitants per square mile (321.9/km2). There were 12,728 housing units (12,000 occupied) at an average density of 360.0 per square mile (139.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 87.7%White, 2.7%African American, 0.3%Native American, 4.1%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 2.4% fromother races, and 2.7% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 6.8% of the population.
There were 12,000 households, out of which 21.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.6% were characterized as "husband-wife" married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.9% were non-families. Of all households 37.2% were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.81.[62]
In the city, the population was spread out, with 20.7% age 19 and under, 9.8% from 20 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 75.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.9 males.[62]
The median income for a household in the city was $56,999, and the median income for a family was $80,179. Males had a median income of $40,470 versus $32,003 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $33,440. About 7.8% of families and 13.5% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.[64]
Northampton's public schools include fourelementary schools (kindergarten through 5th grade), onemiddle school (6th to 8th grade), onehigh school (9th to 12th grade), and onevocational-agricultural high school (9th to 12th grade). There are several private schools in Northampton and a number of charter schools in surrounding towns.
According to the website ePodunk's Gay Index, which is based on figures from the 2000 US Census, Northampton has a score of 535, vs. a national average score of 100 (i.e., Northampton's population includes 5.35 times the national average of same-sex unmarried households).[65] According to the Human Rights Campaign, Northampton scored a 100 out of 100 on its Municipality Equality Index.[66]
Gina-Louise Sciarra is the mayor of Northampton.[67] Previous mayors have included future President of the United StatesCalvin Coolidge (1910–1911) and James "Big Jim" Cahillane, who served from 1954 to 1960. Well-known Judge Sean M. Dunphy was the youngest elected mayor in its history, at age 28.
The city also has a nine-member city council, composed of seven ward representatives and two at-large members. Councilors are elected to two-year terms and the council meets twice monthly for 10 months out of the year. The three other elected city-wide bodies are the School Committee, the Trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School and the Trustees of Forbes Library.[68]
Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech (formerly the Clarke School for the Deaf) specializes in oral education (speech andlip-reading, as opposed tosigning) and holds an annual summer camp, the theme varying from summer to summer. Clarke is the oldest oral school for the deaf in the country, established in 1867 on Round Hill Road overlooking the Connecticut River Valley.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette, a six-day a week morning newspaper and the oldest surviving newspaper in Massachusetts,[73] is based in Northampton, covering Hampshire and Franklin counties.
Northampton is thecity of license for three commercial radio stations:WLZX-FM,WEIB, andWHMP. Northampton is also home to WXOJ-LP, alow-powercommunity radio station owned and operated byValley Free Radio. The station was built by more than 400 volunteers from Northampton and around the country in August 2005 at the eighthPrometheus Radio Project barnraising, in conjunction with the tenth annualGrassroots Radio Coalition conference. Valley Free Radio broadcasts music, news, public affairs, and locally produced radio content to listeners at 103.3 FM. Northampton also holdsSmith College’s student-run radio stationWOZQ, which aired its first broadcast in 1982.
In addition, Northampton is home to Northampton Open Media (NOM), formally Northampton Community Television, which has existed in numerous forms since the mid-1980s but experienced a radical change in 2006 when it became an independently run nonprofit community media center.[74] After a new public unveiling in November 2007, NOM grew to over 200 active members in less than 18 months and had already attracted statewide and national attention in the community media landscape. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 NOM won awards for best web sites (for two different sites) in the United States for community media organizations with budgets under $300,000.[75]
The city of Northampton faces daily traffic congestion in the downtown area and connector roads, often resulting in long delays and traffic buildup. The limitation of one bridge across the Connecticut River (the only route to the nearby college town of Amherst) and a busy main street results in unsafe driving behavior and danger to pedestrians.[76] The City of Northampton is attempting to solve this long-time problem by redesigning problematic intersections and installing traffic cameras.[77]
The rail route through Northampton was historically known as theConnecticut River Line. Although passenger service through the area lapsed in the later part of the twentieth century, service resumed in 2014 following decades of local advocacy and government investment.[81]
Northampton serves as the hub of a growingrail trail network. The north-southManhan Rail Trail extends from the downtown into neighboring Easthampton, and as part of theFarmington Canal Trail is planned eventually to reach New Haven, Connecticut. TheNorwottuck Rail Trail runs eastward from Woodmont Road through Hadley, Amherst, and intoBelchertown, with planned future integration into theCentral Mass Rail Trail to Boston. To the west, the Northampton Bikeway provides access to the city's Florence and Leeds neighborhoods, with a route through historicLook Park, which continues intoHaydenville, where it ends. While downtown, the bikeway runs alongside the train tracks, and provides an alternative route to King and Main Streets.[82]
TheElm Street/Round Hill Historic District runs from the commencement of Elm at State Street almost one mile westerly to Woodlawn Avenue and includes a section of Round Hill Road. A local historic district,[84] it includes examples of a range of architectural styles from 18th century colonial to contemporary, with an abundance of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival homes and other styles.
TheSojourner Truth Memorial at the intersection of Pine and Park Streets in Florence commemorates abolitionist, orator, and Florence resident Sojourner Truth.[85]
21% of Northampton is protected open space; this includes the 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.[46]
Look Park is a recreational park covering over 150 acres (61 ha), 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 such asBob Dylan have played at the park's amphitheater.
Childs Park is a serene 40-acre (16 ha) city park nearCooley Dickinson Hospital. It features two ponds, formal gardens and rose gardens, and an Italian-style garden house.
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, semitropics, and desert regions. It also includes an indoorgreenhouse.
The Mill River Greenway[86] 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 arail trail hub. Currently, theNorwottuck Rail Trail extends 18 miles (29 km) from Leeds,Florence, and the downtown sections of Northampton toAmherst andBelchertown. TheManhan Rail Trail extends 8 miles (13 km) 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[87] is the "longest consecutive runningagricultural fair in the country", having been established and incorporated in 1818.
The Calvin Theater,Iron Horse Music Hall, and Pearl Street Nightclub are among the many venues that play host to Northampton's music scene.
TheAcademy of Music, built in 1890 by Edward H. R. Lyman, is the earliest known municipally ownedtheater in the United States.[88]Boris Karloff andHarry Houdini (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[89] (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.
As part of an annual Springfest celebration, students from the Northampton Community Music Center (NCMC)[93] fill the streets with music on the third Saturday of May.
LGBT Pride,[94] on the first Saturday of May, is an annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride march and rally, with a colorful parade down Main Street that ends with an all-day festival at a designated location in town.
Thornes Marketplace in downtown Northampton has many shops and eateries.
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.[29]
U.S. PresidentCalvin Coolidge worked as a lawyer in Northampton and served as the city's mayor from 1910 to 1911.[95] He went on to be a Massachusetts state senator, lieutenant governor, and governor before becoming vice-president and president of the United States. After retiring from the U.S. presidency in 1929, Coolidge moved back to Northampton. He died in the city on January 5, 1933.
^For use in a standalone publication see–Kneeland, Frederick N. (1894).Northampton, the Meadow City. Northampton, Massachusetts: F. N. Kneeland and L. P. Bryant.OCLC24093077.
^abcdeTrumbull, James Russell (1898).History of Northampton Massachusetts from Its Settlement in 1654.
^abOffice of the City Clerk of Northampton, Ma.Records, Volume 1: 1884-1888, City of Northampton. 1883, p. 2.
^abOffice of the Mayor of Northampton, Ma. "1883 – Chapter 250: Act to establish the city of Northampton." 1883, pp. 537-554.
^Karr, Paul; Brokaw, Leslie; Morris, Marie; Reckford, Laura M. (November 3, 2008).Frommer's New England. Wiley. p. 55.ISBN9780470417416 – via Internet Archive.gay population of northampton massachusetts.
^"1950 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21-10 and 21-11, Massachusetts Table 6. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1930 to 1950. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1920 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1890 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1870 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1872. Pages 217 through 220. Table IX. Population of Minor Civil Divisions, &c. Massachusetts. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1860 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1864. Pages 220 through 226. State of Massachusetts Table No. 3. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1850 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1854. Pages 338 through 393. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1950 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21-7 through 21-09, Massachusetts Table 4. Population of Urban Places of 10,000 or more from Earliest Census to 1920. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on July 21, 2011. RetrievedMay 26, 2024.
Kerry W. Buckley, ed.A Place Called Paradise: Culture and Community in Northampton, Massachusetts, 1654–2004. Northampton: Historic Northampton Museum and Education Center, in association with University of Massachusetts Press, 2004. ix + 523 pp. ISBN978-1-55849-485-5. reprints 20 essays by scholars
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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