Sometimes in the mid-1980s I took a trip to a then-unsung North Adams with a friend, and surprisingly discovered that its physical location was picturesque â mountains nestling it, and a river running like a ribbon through the town.
However, the old mill town also housed an immense abandoned factory whose striking buildings were left rotting. The center of the town was impoverished, with many of its stores closed; one of the few open bars was inhabited by aging alcoholics and other people who had seen better days. Much of the housing was wood frame and decaying, and the town faced a great deal of unemployment, a lack of revenue, decaying social services and population decline.