Town file
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams, Massachusetts (Berkshire County, Massachusetts) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 271, "The Devil Whispers In My Ear" (7 April 2022). North Adams, Massachusetts, sits in the north-western corner of the Berkshires, in Berkshire County, about two and three-quarter hours from Boston.
- Town
- North Adams
- County
- Berkshire County
- State
- Massachusetts
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 271
- Approximate location
- 42.676, -73.118
Episode 271 / 7 April 2022 / 155 min / full
The Devil Whispers In My Ear
"We're going to North Adams, Massachusetts, which is northwestern, up in the upper northwestern corner, in the Berkshires; this is in Berkshire County." about 0:05:15
The case: Murder of Marilyn Schnopps (October 13, 1979). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2022
- Population
- 12,737
- Median age
- 43.1
- Median household income
- $38,774
- Median home value
- $177,800
- Two-bedroom rent
- $1,124 a month
- Cost of living
- 82 out of 100
- Religious
- about 50-50
- Property crime
- ▲ about 20 to 25% high
- Violent crime
- ▲ more than twice the national average
History, in brief
- Settled by Europeans in 1745, during King War. about 0:07:22
- During King War, Canadian and Native American forces laid siege to Fort Massachusetts. about 0:07:40
- A stone replica of the fort's chimney was built in the 20th century at the rear of the former Price Chopper supermarket, behind the former Friendly's. about 0:07:55
- In the 1800s the town had wholesale shoe manufacturers, a brickyard, a saw mill, cabinet makers and hat manufacturers. about 0:09:19
- It had machine shops making mill machines, marble works, wagon and sleigh makers and iron works, which provided the pig iron for the armour plates of the Civil War ironclad Monitor. about 0:09:51
- Sprague made electrical components for televisions and VCRs until foreign competition closed the plant in 1985, which the episode says ruined the local economy. about 0:11:17
- The population has declined a lot since the 1980s. about 0:11:38
- The actor Frank Vincent, who played Billy Batts in Goodfellas, is from North Adams. about 0:11:45
The reviews read out
5 stars
"A second-home owner of eight years praises the positive changes, MASS MoCA, MCLA and the community, and says his children now bring their friends to hike, eat and listen to music."about 0:13:21
3 stars
"A great town to grow up in, but crime rates have gone up; everyone knows everyone, people are nosy and word spreads fast."about 0:14:32
2 stars
"Criminals are coming into the area with drugs and a lot of people are overdosing."about 0:14:59
1 star
"It has gone downhill in the last decade; MASS MoCA looks cultured but there is little to do, the drug trade and crime rate are rising, the police do as little as possible, and the writer wants to sell up and move somewhere warmer and safer."about 0:15:34
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Pittsfield, Massachusetts17 miles
- Greenfield, Massachusetts27 miles
- Newfane, Vermont32 miles
- Stillwater, New York32 miles
- Northampton, Massachusetts33 miles
- Townshend, Vermont34 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.