1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Adams

ADAMS, a township in the extreme N. of Berkshire county, N.W. Massachusetts, U.S.A., having an area of 23 sq. m. Pop. (1880) 5591; (1890) 9213; (1900) 11,134, of whom 4376 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 13,026. It includes a portion of the valley of the Hoosac river, extending to the Hoosac Range on the E., and on the W. to Mt. Williams (3040 ft.), and Greylock Mountain (3535 ft.), partly in Williamstown, and the highest point in the state. The valley portion is level and contains several settlement centres, the largest of which, a busy industrial village (manufactures of cotton and paper), bears the same name as the township, and is on a branch of the Boston and Albany railroad. The village is the nearest station to Greylock, which can be easily ascended, and affords fine views of the Hoosac and Housatonic valleys, the Berkshire Hills and the Green Mountains; the mountain has been a state timber reservation since 1898. The township’s principal industry is the manufacture of cotton goods, the value of which in 1905 ($4,621,261) was 84·1% of the value of the township’s total factory products; in 1905 no other place in the United States showed so high a degree of specialization in this industry. The township (originally “East Hoosuck”) was surveyed and defined in 1749. Fort Massachusetts, at one time within its bounds, was destroyed in 1746 by the French. An old Indian trail between the Hudson and Connecticut valley ran through the township, and was once a leading outlet of the Berkshire country. Adams was incorporated in 1778, and was named in honour of Samuel Adams, the revolutionary leader. Part of Adams was included in the new township of Cheshire in 1793, and North Adams was set off as a separate township in 1878.