HISTORIC NORTHAMPTON
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maKING IT ON MAIN STREET

MAKING IT ON MAIN STREET
An Exhibit at Historic Northampton
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday | 12 noon - 5 pm


For 365 years, Main Street has been a crossroads, marketplace, town center, and public square.  In 1655, English settlers built their meeting house on a small hill at the center of their new village, near where the courthouse stands today. The wide rutted road in front of the meeting house became Main Street.
 
On the eve of the American Revolution, in 1769, the first store opened on what is now the corner of Main and Old South Streets, across from the meeting house and a tavern.  More stores followed.  By 1800, “Shop Row” was the place to shop for local goods and luxuries from London.  The wooden stores were replaced by brick commercial blocks, and by 1900, Main Street looked like it does today.

Picture
Picture
The history of Main Street is more than a changing parade of stores. “Making it on Main Street,” a stunning new exhibit at Historic Northampton, tells the story of the people who lived, worked, played, and celebrated on Main Street—how they earned a living, faced the challenges of changing times, treated their neighbors and outsiders, advocated for justice, and shaped the Main Street we walk today.  

The newly designed exhibition space displays a chronology in glass cases, with background murals drawn from descriptions of the historical landscape, prints and photographs drawn by local artist Nancy Haver. 

HISTORIC NORTHAMPTON
46 Bridge Street Northampton, Massachusetts 01060
info@historicnorthampton.org | 413-584-6011

Museum Hours

Wednesday - Sunday
12 noon - 5 pm

Closed on holidays

© COPYRIGHT 2015-2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • About
    • About Historic Northampton
    • What's On View >
      • Main Street Exhibit
      • The Sarah Strong Chest
    • Hours and Directions
    • Board-Staff
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Legal/Financial
  • Programs
    • Upcoming Programs
    • Past Programs 2022
    • Help I am not receiving email messages
  • Explore
    • Collections & Research
    • History at Home >
      • Videos
      • Interactive Witch Trial
      • Paper Dolls
      • Hidden Histories
      • Scavenger Hunts
      • Coloring Pages
      • Brain Teasers
      • Peg Doll Hunts
      • Jonathan Edwards Prayer Requests
    • Properties >
      • Parsons House
      • Damon House
      • Shepherd House
      • Shepherd Barn 2020
      • The Bridge Street School Sprouts
    • Educational Websites
    • Historic Highlights
    • COVID-19 Stories >
      • Vaccination Photos
      • Submit Your COVID Story
      • Children React
      • Family and Neighborhood Fun
      • It's a New World
      • Hope and Togetherness
      • Images
      • How Illness Feels
      • Brings Forth Memory
      • Blessings and the New Busy
      • Fear and Worry
  • Indigenous Native History
    • Native Histories in Nonotuck
    • Nonotuck Histories Essay by Margaret M. Bruchac
    • Recovering Nonotuck Histories Photo Essay
    • Profiles of Native People
    • Extended Biographies of Native People
    • Nonotuck to Northampton Maps
    • Native LIves Bibliography
  • History of Slavery
    • About the Slavery Research Project
    • Black Enslaved People
    • Free Black People
    • Native Enslaved People
    • Enslavers of People
    • Relationship Map
    • Timeline of Slavery in Northampton
  • DONATE
    • Make a Donation
    • WAYS TO GIVE
    • Join the Email List
    • MEMBERSHIP
    • IRA Giving
    • Stock Giving
    • Donate to the Collection
    • Volunteer