A visitor knows at a glance there is something special about behind the Victorian-era exterior of the building called the North Adams Library. The towering, uniquely constructed mansion with its three storied brick exterior and massive windows stands sentinel over the North Adams Main Street.

The former luxurious mansion was built at the intersection of Church and Main Streets in 1869 for Sanford Blackinton, a mill owner said to be the town’s first millionaire. His profitable textile mills, some of the largest in western Massachusetts, produced cloth for Union uniforms throughout the Civil War.

Sanford was deeply involved in the community and built the Blackinton block and sponsored the construction of the local Baptist Church. He passed away in 1885 and is buried in the family plot at Hillside Cemetery  

Years later, after his wife’s death, the home was sold in 1896 to the town’s first mayor A.C. Houghton who donated the mansion and $10,000 to the city specifying the home was to be used as a library and a meeting place for the Historical Society.

After several years of conversion work the mansion officially opened as the town’s library in 1898 and for well over 100 years has served as a cherished haven of information for residents. 

The house constructed of red brick and brownstone trim is a high-style Second Empire architecture with a prominent tower. The mansion’s interior showcases sweeping staircases and beautiful, rich carved dark-wood throughout. Its floor to ceiling windows provide a sunny, inviting environment, and are complemented by ornate well-preserved fireplaces, huge period era-mirrors creating a warm time-capsule for visiting citizens.

In 2005, after 100 years of service, a $4,000,000 renovation took place. The well-done facelift preserved the library’s beautiful Victorian features while incorporating a 10,000 square foot, three-level addition. The update also refurbished some of the antique furniture, added an elevator, brought the building up to modern day codes and incorporating solar panels and a geothermal heating and cooling systems. 

This grand building now houses tens of thousands of books, newspaper archives, and public computers.   

As the library’s director said when the renovation was completed, “We look at this space as the community’s living room.”

Photo by Dan Morgan Photography