North Adams Marking Monitor Anniversary

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Celebrations are being held all over the country in honor of the 150th anniversary of various Civil War battles and events. It is always nice to have a local connection.

The public is invited to attend when North Adams holds its own commemoration on Friday, March 9, at 1:30 p.m. for the sesquicentennial of the battle of the first ironclads the Monitor and the Merrimac.

The North Adams Iron Co. smelted pig iron from Furnace Hill and the Paul farm in the Notch and shipped it to a foundry in Troy, N.Y., to be used in making plates for the turret of the USS Monitor, the Union ironclad. The North Adams Historical Society will sponsor the laying of a patriotic wreath as well as pertinent readings by members at the Monitor Monument on West Main Street, the site of the former foundry.

Special guest will be Brian Ferris, who as a 5-year-old in 1951, was pictured in the North Adams Transcript when the plaque was completed and installed. His father ran Everybody's Market then close by at 19 West Main. The local monument was dedicated Dec. 10, 1951, because of the efforts of Clara Beckley, granddaughter of John Beckley of Canaan Conn., owner of the iron company in the 1850s and 1860s.

Robert Campanile will present the "Monitor vs. the Merrimac" as part of his regular weekly series of talks at the Visitors Museum at Western Gateway Heritage State Park on Saturday, March 10, at 3.
 

Marshall Street Crash Under Investigation; Businesses Remain Closed Until Damage Repaired.

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:31PM / Friday, August 28, 2026

Glass litters Tres Ninos' floor on Friday. Right, the front logo from the truck is screwed into the plywood covering the front of the building.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Two local businesses are closed for an indefinite amount of time after a pickup truck slammed through the front of Brewster's antique shop on Marshall Street on Thursday night. 

 

Police Chief Mark Bailey said the crash is still under investigation and didn't have have any further information on Friday morning on one of the truck's occupants who was taken to the hospital. 

 

Brewster's owner Casey Albert was standing in line at another antique shop on Friday, hoping to replace some merchandise shattered in the collision. 

 

"I mean half the store is gone," she said. "He pushed a lot of things way far back, the whole front is just gone."

 

Albert said building owner David Carver said it would be months before she could re-open. Right now, she can get into the back half of the store but was told not to touch anything in the front until the insurance adjuster can look at it. 

 

It's not clear, she said, how long it will take to repair the damage to the building. But her business is taking a big hit. 

 

"You can't replace antiques," Albert said. "That's why they're usually expensive."