Normal School Historic District
Normal School Historic District is a district in North Adams, Massachusetts, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 25, 1985.
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Last checked October 31, 2026 - Location
- North Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts
National Register listing does not mean a place is open to the public. Parking and accessibility are shown only when verified.
History
The Normal School Historic District is a historic district in North Adams, Massachusetts. It consists of a group of ten buildings located along Church Street, roughly from Bradley Street in the south to Murdock Hall on the campus of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in the north. The buildings represent a period of cohesive development of the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, shortly after the normal school (later North Adams State College, then MCLA) was established. It includes nine houses, eight of which are private residences, and one institutional building, Murdock Hall, dating to the inception of the normal school. The tenth building is Smith House, originally known as the Principal's House (later President's House), which is next door to Murdock Hall on the MCLA campus.
All of the residential properties, including Smith House, are large Victorian houses. Six are in the Queen Anne style, with porches and turreted sections, while three are in the Colonial Revival style. Murdock Hall was built in 1896 (as was Smith House) and served as the normal school's main building. It is a rectangular Italianate structure built of yellow brick designed by architect H. Neill Wilson, and features a central pilaster-supported triangular pediment. Smith House is built of the same materials, but with Colonial Revival styling. A dormitory built at the same time has not survived.
South of Smith House on the west side of Church Street are three private residences, all built in either 1896 or 1897. The first of these, the Queen Anne style Hawkins House, was built according to a mail-order plan, and features some of the most elaborate woodwork in North Adams. The other five private residences are situated on the east side of Church Street; all but one was built in the early 1890s, before the normal school was established.
The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The official nomination form is linked under Sources.
Other listings in North Adams
- Church Street Historic District District · listed 1983
- H.W. Clark Biscuit Company Building · listed 2009
- Hillside Cemetery Site · listed 2001
- Hoosac Tunnel Structure · listed 1973
- Monument Square-Eagle Street Historic District (Boundary Increase) District · listed 1988
- Norad Mill Building · listed 1985
- Armstrong House Building · listed 1985
- Arnold Print Works Building · listed 1985
- Beaver Mill Building · listed 1973
- Blackinton Historic District District · listed 1985
- Boardman, The Building · listed 1985
- Browne, Charles, House Building · listed 1985
- Church Street-Cady Hill Historic District (Boundary Increase) District · listed 1985
- Crowley House Building · listed 1985
- Freeman's Grove Historic District District · listed 1985
Nearby historic places
- Barrett, P. J., Block Adams, MA · about 5 mi
- East Lawn Cemetery and Sherman Burbank Memorial Chapel Williamstown, MA · about 5 mi
- Bissell Bridge Charlemont, MA · about 13 mi
- Bennington Battle Monument Bennington, VT · about 15 mi
- Crane and Company Old Stone Mill Rag Room Dalton, MA · about 16 mi
- Wilder, Homestead, The Buckland, MA · about 18 mi