Pittsfield & North Adams Passenger Station and Baggage & Express House
Why it's listed
Two small railroad buildings on Pleasant Street in Adams Center once served as the town's main depot. The larger is a one-story passenger station of red brick, now painted white, with rock-faced and dressed brown sandstone trim, arched windows and entries, and deep hip-roof eaves carried on laminated wood brackets. Nearby stands a wood-frame baggage and express house, more fancifully decorated, with ornately panelled double doors and wainscoting. Local directories listed it as the office of the American Express Company and the Western Union Telegraph Company by 1889-1890. Exact construction dates are unknown, but both buildings appear on an 1894 town atlas. The Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad came through Adams in 1845-1846 and first used a depot north of the center. As the downtown grew, these buildings were built on Pleasant Street and remained in active use until the mid-twentieth century. They were listed for their railroad associations, their architecture and their surviving integrity despite blocked windows and later alterations.
Significance in brief: The buildings were the main depot of the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad in Adams and are important remnants of the railroad's major period of activity. The station combines Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne elements, and both buildings retain integrity of location, design, materials and setting. The nomination applies criterion A.
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 82004950, listed April 1, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 10 Pleasant St., Adams |
|---|---|
| County | Berkshire County |
| Listed | April 1, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82004950 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1889-94 |
| Architectural style | Combines elements of Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne styles |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Both buildings were in active railroad use until the mid-twentieth century. The form checks the condition as fair and altered, with some windows blocked, and lists the use as commercial and unoccupied. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Coordinates | 42.62191, -73.11929 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
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 82004950.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7199467
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.