Eclipse Mill, North Adams, Massachusetts

MORNINGS ON MAPLE STREET

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Eclipse Mill, North Adams, Massachusetts

Here are many of the children (and a few adults) whose descendants I have contacted, or about whom I have found significant information. Click on each photo to see an enlarged photo and the full captions. The captions directly under each photo are my words. Below those, I have added Hine's own telling descriptions (in italics), as published by the Library of Congress or other sources. You will note examples of where my research has resulted in name corrections, or in the discovery of the names of persons only partially identified, or not indentified at all by Hine. In most cases, I have posted my full story (often including family photos) of the person or persons in the photo. For others, I am still gathering information for the story. These pages will be updated frequently.

Arthur Chalifoux

Idas Joseph Crepeau

Joseph Allard

Josephat Adams

Albert Duquette

Richard Fitzgerald

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Lewis Hine visited the Eclipse Mill in North Adams, and several cotton mills in neighboring Adams in the last week of August, 1911. He had just traveled down from Eastport, Maine, after spending a week investigating child labor in the fish canneries. Immediately after leaving North Adams, he headed to Winchendon, Massachusetts. Many of my stories on this website are about the Eastport and Winchendon children. Hine named six of the children altogether in the nine photos he took in North Adams, and I have managed to track down stories for each of them.

Eclipse Mill, circa 1910, source of photo unknown. CLICK TO ENLARGE

Eclipse Mill, circa 1910, source of photo unknown. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

The Eclipse Mill was the home of many industries. Among the most notable were the Hoosac Cotton Mill, in the early 1900s; X-Tyal Corporation, Hunter Outdoor Products, and finally Sprague Electric Company, from the 1950s to the 1980s; and the Delftree Corporation, which was a major grower and supplier of shittake mushrooms for nearly 25 years, before scaling back its operations in 2004. They occupied the building with the sawtooth roof on the south side of the street. That building, built in 1902, is now the home of NOAMA, a developing complex of art spaces and other ventures. The building on the north side, built in the middle 1800s, is now condominiums and loft space for artists. At one time, there were two prominent elevated walkways above Union Street (Rt. 2) connecting the two buildings. The last one was torn down in 1985.

Demolition of elevated walkway, 1985. Photo courtesy of North Adams Transcript. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

The north building sits along the Hoosic River, just below a large dam that generated water power for the mill. Until flood chutes were built in the 1950s, the river was the cause of several destructive floods in the 20^th century, badly damaging many of the houses on Front Street, just across the river from the mill. In the late 1800s and early-to-middle 1900s, the neighborhood surrounding the mill was populated mostly by French-Canadian immigrants. They remain the most represented nationality in the city.

Eclipse Mill and flood chute as seen from above the dam, 2002. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

Eclipse Mill Artist Lofts

More information about North Adams, including many photos of the city

Back to Index Of Names

All rights reserved. This website, and all of its contents, except where noted, is copyrighted by, and is the sole property of Joe Manning (aka Joseph H. Manning), of Florence, Massachusetts. None of the contents of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including copying, recording, downloading, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Joe Manning, or his rightful heirs.