Rowling Picks Mount Greylock as Site of Fictional Wizarding School

ADAMS, Mass. — The state's highest peak was revealed on Tuesday to be the location of a school of wizardry.

J.K. Rowling, author of the immensely popular "Harry Potter" series, released a short story on Tuesday on the history of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at Pottermore.com.

"It stands at the highest peak of Mount Greylock, where it is concealed from non-magic gaze by a variety of powerful enchantments, which sometimes manifest in a wreath of misty cloud," she writes of the hidden granite castle.

The North American version of Hogwarts was founded by Isolt Sayre, an Irish woman of wizarding heritage, who fled to the New World on the Mayflower disguised as Muggle boy to escape her wicked aunt.

The story doesn't give the secret entrance to Ilvermorny — perhaps via the Berkshire Scenic Railway?

Adams Firehouse Shored Up While District Seeks Options

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:51AM / Monday, April 13, 2026

Officials say the 60-year-old fire station is obsolete in terms of space and conditions to house the Fire and Water Departments. 

ADAMS, Mass. — Like many public safety organizations in the Berkshires, the Adams Fire District is looking for ways to address its building's deteriorating condition. 

 

The 65-year-old firehouse on Columbia Street houses both the fire station and Water Department and has myriad issues including leaking and rotting windows, improper ventilation, outdated and obsolete electrical panels, minimal storage, two undersized bays, no sprinkler system or carbon monoxide detectors, and no space for training. 

 

Last year, the Fire Department worried its new engine would fall through the floor of the firehouse so the district invested in renting a shoring system to hold the structure up. 

 

Prior to installing the system, the 2026 ladder truck could not be housed inside the station; with the temporary fix in place, it can now be stored indoors and is fully in service. 

 

Voters can expect warrant articles addressing the situation, including $8,000 for a space needs assessment and $44,000 from free cash to purchase the station's shoring support system.

 

Renting the system costs about $2,000 per month, and with long-term solutions — such as repairing the deteriorating building or relocating departments — expected to take several years, officials believe purchasing it may be the more feasible option.

 

Although the system holds up the structure, it also exacerbates another issue — space.