H.W. Clark Biscuit Company
Why it's listed
Along Ashland Street in North Adams stands a former biscuit factory made up of five attached buildings, a railroad spur, a brick smokestack and an iron fence. The oldest part is a brick storehouse of 1895-1897 left from the Canedy-Clark Shoe Factory. Grocer and businessman H.W. Clark turned the site into a bakery after 1901, adding a boiler house and a three-story mill-construction Icing Building in 1913. In 1922 came a four-story reinforced-concrete Baking Building with mushroom-shaped interior columns, Moderne piers and a Classical Revival entry pediment. Its upper floors still hold fireboxes and brick ovens. The complex is significant for its part in the city's early twentieth century manufacturing economy and for its industrial architecture. Clark's bakery lines were said to be the longest in Massachusetts. The period of significance runs from 1895 to 1954, when the company closed. The property is now vacant, and parts of it are badly deteriorated.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues that the complex shows the growth of North Adams's early 20th century manufacturing economy and the career of grocer-industrialist H.W. Clark, who converted a former shoe factory into a large bakery beside the railroad. It also holds that the buildings, from slow-burning mill construction to a Moderne-detailed reinforced-concrete bakery, embody distinctive types of industrial construction.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 09000235, listed April 22, 2009. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 179-191 Ashland St., North Adams |
|---|---|
| County | Berkshire County |
| Listed | April 22, 2009 |
| Reference number | 09000235 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1895-1954 |
| Architect / builder | William J. Higginson, Architect; D.L. Dillon, Builder |
| Architectural style | Late 19th & Early 20th American Movements/Commercial Style; Modern Movement/Moderne |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Architecture, Community Planning and Development, Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as vacant/not in use; the West Storehouse and Boiler House are deteriorated, with roof and masonry wall failure, and the smokestack has partly collapsed. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 42.69408, -73.10887 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 09000235.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5628636
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.