Normal School Historic District

Ten buildings line Church Street in the south end of North Adams, forming a group of well-detailed late Victorian architecture from the 1890s. Two belong to the State Normal School, founded to train public school teachers: Murdock Hall, a yellow brick Renaissance Revival building, and the Principal's House, a Classical Revival building with a columned portico. Both were designed by H. Neil Wilson of Pittsfield and completed in 1897. Across and along the street stand eight large houses in Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, built for merchants and business owners who prospered during the city's industrial peak. One Queen Anne house, the Hawkins House, was built from mail-order plans by George F. Barber. The neighborhood developed alongside the school and was then the fastest growing part of the city. Newer college buildings and altered houses were left outside the boundary, so the district keeps its original character, with the school buildings still in educational use.