Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Northampton (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail, The Botanic Garden of Smith College, and Look Park. Also, be sure to include Smith College Museum of Art in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Northampton (Massachusetts).
Table of Contents
Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail
The Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail, formerly the Norwottuck Rail Trail, is an 11-mile combination bicycle/pedestrian paved rail trail running from Northampton, Massachusetts, through Hadley and Amherst, to Belchertown, Massachusetts. It opened in 1992, and is now part of the longer Mass Central Rail Trail.[1]
Address: 446 Damon Road, 01060 Northampton
The Botanic Garden of Smith College
Botanical garden in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Botanic Garden of Smith College is located on the campus of Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It consists of a fine selection of woody trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and an excellent collection of tropical and subtropical plants in The Lyman Conservatory. All are open to the public.
The first outlines of the Botanic Garden began in the 1880s, when Smith College hired the firm of Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot to develop a campus landscape plan. Frederick Law Olmsted, senior member of the firm, is best remembered for designing Central Park in New York City and the Boston park system. The Olmsted plan dated February 1893 includes curving drives and walkways, open spaces with specimen trees, and vistas over Paradise Pond through wooded groves. Olmsted also provided planting lists of diverse trees, shrubs, herbs, and aquatic and marsh plants. However, in a more formal sense, the Botanic Garden of Smith College took shape under William Francis Ganong, appointed professor of botany and director of the Botanic Garden in May 1894, and Edward J. Canning, hired in summer 1894 as head gardener.
Smith's Botanic Garden collection includes 1200 types of woody trees and shrubs, 2200 types of hardy herbaceous plants, 3200 types of tender herbaceous and woody plants in greenhouses, and 6600 different kinds of plants, giving a total of approximately 10,000 types of plants on campus.
The Lyman Conservatory's greenhouses with 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) date from 1895, and house over 2500 species of plants for the instruction of Smith students in the plant sciences. These plants are selected from a wide variety of families and habitats; they comprise one of the best collections of tropical, subtropical, and desert plants in the country.
The campus arboretum consists of 127 acres (51 ha) of woody trees and shrubs, and is free and open every day.
Other Smith Campus Gardens include the Rock Garden, Japanese Garden, Happy Chace '28 Garden, Capen Garden, Woodland Garden, and Systematics Garden & Perennial Border.[2]
Address: 15 College Ln, 01060-2901 Northampton
Look Park
Park in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Frank Newhall Look Memorial Park, commonly referred to as Look Park, is a privately run non-profit park in the village of Florence in Northampton, Massachusetts in Hampshire County. The park is open year-round.[3]
Address: 300 N Main St, 01062 Northampton
Smith College Museum of Art
Museum in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Smith College Museum of Art, is an art museum in Northampton, Massachusetts connected with Smith College. The museum is known for its compilation of American and European art of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Edgar Degas, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Albert Bierstadt, John Singer Sargent and others.
First established in 1879, the collection has expanded to include nearly 25,000 works of art, including a diverse collection of non-Western art. It is also a member of the Museums10 collective, a consortium of art, science, and history museums in Western Massachusetts. The SCMA serves as an important cultural and educational resource for the communities of Smith College, the Five College Consortium, and the town of Northampton.[4]
Address: 20 Elm St, 01063-6304 Northampton
Academy of Music Theatre
Theater in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Academy of Music Theatre is located in and owned by the City of Northampton, Massachusetts, which received the deed in 1892 from former owner and builder Edward H. R. Lyman. It opened in 1891 and was the first municipally owned theater in the United States. The Renaissance Revival style Academy of Music was designed by Hartford, Connecticut, architect William C. Brocklesby.
The Academy of Music, Inc. is the operating entity for the building, and it is an independent, private, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization governed by a Board of Trustees. The Northampton Mayor and Smith College President serve on the board, as was Lyman’s wish. The other board members are volunteers who have an interest in the performing arts, in the continued vitality of the City of Northampton, or who have special expertise related to the Academy’s operations.[5]
Address: Northampton, 274 Main St. Northampton, MA 01060
Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge
Bridge in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge is a former crossing of Boston and Maine Railroad over the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley, by the Norwottuck Rail Trail, which is currently used for bicycle and foot traffic.[6]
Address: Norwottuck Rail Trail, 01060 Northampton
Calvin Coolidge Bridge
Truss bridge in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Calvin Coolidge Memorial Bridge is a major crossing of the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, connecting the towns of Northampton and Hadley. The bridge carries Route 9 across the river, where it connects to Interstate 91.[7]
Address: Route 9, 01060 Northampton
Forbes Library
Library of presidential and private items. The Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library of 30th U.S. president Calvin Coolidge.[8]
Address: 20 West St, 01060-3713 Northampton
Smith College
Liberal arts college in Northampton, Massachusetts. Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. Smith is also a member of the Five College Consortium, along with four other nearby institutions in the Pioneer Valley: Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst; students of each college are allowed to attend classes at any other member institution. On campus are Smith's Museum of Art and Botanic Garden, the latter designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
Smith has 41 academic departments and programs and is structured around an open curriculum, lacking course requirements and scheduled final exams. It is known for its progressive, politically active student body and rigorous academics. Undergraduate admissions is exclusively restricted to women, although after criticism from the college community Smith announced a trans-inclusive admissions policy in 2015. Smith offers several graduate degrees, all of which accept applicants regardless of gender, and co-administers programs leading to Ph.D.s alongside other Five College members. The college was the first historically women's college to offer an undergraduate engineering degree. Admissions is considered highly selective. It was the first women's college to join the NCAA, and its sports teams are known as the Pioneers.
Smith alumnae include notable authors, journalists, activists, feminists, politicians, philanthropists, actresses, filmmakers, academics, CEOs, two first ladies of the United States, and recipients of the Pulitzer Prize, Rhodes Scholarship, Academy Award, Emmy Award, MacArthur Grant, Peabody Award, and Tony Award.[9]
Address: 10 Elm St, Northampton
Elm Street Historic District
The Elm Street/Round Hill Historic District is a local historic district in the city of Northampton, Massachusetts. Established in 1994 along one mile of Elm Street it was expanded to include Round Hill Road in 2012.
There are 139 buildings ranging in style from early 18th century colonial to Modern and International style.
The first lots on what is now Elm Street (from Main Street to Round Hill) were granted between 1659 and 1661.
The founding of Clarke School for the Deaf in 1867 and the founding of Smith College in 1871 marked the beginning of a significant number of institutional buildings in a wide range of architectural styles at the eastern end of the district (Smith College) and Round Hill Road (Clarke Schools). There was a boom in residential home building from the mid-19th to early 20th century and as a result many homes are Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style. In 2013 the Clarke Schools sold 12 acres with ten buildings to a developer who will create luxury condominiums and commercial space.
Catholic Churches punctuate each end of the district.
Elm Street is part of Massachusetts Route 9 which runs East/West between Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Boston, Massachusetts.[10]
Smith Alumnae Gymnasium
Building in Northampton, Massachusetts. The Smith Alumnae Gymnasium is a historic former athletic facility on the Smith College campus in Northampton, Massachusetts. Located facing Burton Lawn, it was built in 1890 as a fine addition to the adjacent Gothic style buildings. The building now houses the college's archives, and was connected by the adjacent Neilson Library by a bridge in 1982. It is the first place in which a formal women's basketball game was played, in 1892, and is one of the first American athletic facilities built specifically for women. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[11]
Address: Elm Street, Northampton MA 01063, Northampton