The City of North Adams is sited in the valleys created by the confluence of the north and south branches of the Hoosac River.  It is an industrial community with narrow twisting streets that climb steep hills.  The river valleys were known to be subject to flooding, so no large farming community was developed in the area, but the water power of the rivers was available for industry.  

In 1760, the Commonwealth sold the area to three men if they would develop it.  They did...with lumber mills exporting high quality pine boards, grist mills, blacksmith shop, fulling mill, cut nail makers, brickyards and textile mills.  Many settlers from Rhode Island with textile experience in power looms moved to the town, aiding in the creation of its industrial economy.  Development, however, was slow because the town was cut off from the eastern portion of the state by the Hoosac Mountain Range and hampered by a lack of capital.  In the late 1820's the first cotton print mill was established and in 1846 the first rail line to Pittsfield was opened.  

Blast furnaces and shoes were manufactured in town and the Hoosac Tunnel, direct rail line between North Adams and Fitchburg, was begun in 1851 and completed in 1875 using the city as the headquarters for the tunnel operations.   The Civil War stimulated the shoe and textile operations and handsome Greek Revival, Second Empire, and Italianate homes remain as testimony to the fortunes that were made.  The Blackinton Mansion, an outstanding example of Second Empire design, is now the city library. 

The growth of the mills led to development of the city as a regional commercial center in the Berkshires.  Residential neighborhoods began climbing the hills about 1850 and the city is now known for its decorated slate roofs and towers.   Mill owners built a large number of multi-family houses for their workers, who were mainly immigrant French Canadians, Italians and Irish. 

By the later 19th century, shoes and boots had grown to be more significant to North Adam's economy than textiles.  North Adams State College was established in 1894 and Sprague Electrical Works moved to town in 1929.   North Adams is more diversified in modern times and much less of an industrial community, with a major effort underway to create the largest Museum of Modern Art in the country on a site in the community.