ZIP Code 01060

As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and countercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations. The website Epodunk rates Northampton as the most politically liberal medium-size city (population 25,00099,000) in the United States. The city has a high proportion of residents who identify as gay and lesbian and a high number of same-sex households and is a popular destination for the LGBT community. The town was known as "Norwottuck", or "Nonotuck", meaning "the midst of the river", named by its original Pocumtuc inhabitants. The area suffered a major smallpox epidemic in the 1630s following the arrival of Dutch traders in the Hudson Valley and New England settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the previous two decades. It was in this context that the land making up the bulk of modern Northampton was sold to settlers from Springfield in 1653.:512On May 18, 1653, a petition for township was approved by the general court of Springfield.:7 While some settlers visited the land in the fall of 1653, they waited till early spring 1654 to arrive and establish a permanent settlement.:1516 The situation in the region further deteriorated when the Mohawk people escalated hostilities against the Algonquian tribes after 1655. This coincided with a souring of relations between the Wampanoag and Massachusetts Bay colonists.

History

Northampton was known as "Norwottuck", or "Nonotuck", meaning "the midst of the river", named by its original Pocumtuc inhabitants. The area suffered a major smallpox epidemic in the 1630s following the arrival of Dutch traders in the Hudson Valley. Northampton hosted its own witch trials in the 1700s, although no alleged witches were executed. In 1805, a crowd of 15,000 gathered to watch the executions of two Irishmen convicted of murder in Northampton. The trial "later came to be seen as epitomizing anti-Irish sentiment that was widespread in New England in the early 19th century" Northampton was part of the Equivalent Lands compromise, and was incorporated in 1775 and included parts of modern Southampton, Westhampton, and Easthampton. A hamlet of Northampton, called Smith's Ferry, became separated from the rest of the city with the drawing of boundaries for Easthamptonshire in 1809. On August 29, 1786, Daniel Shays and a group of Revolutionary War veterans (who called themselves Shaysites) stopped an uprising known as Shays' Rebellion. The men were hanged on June 5, 1806, on Pancake Plain, on Plain Plain, and were denied burial; they were denied a burial in the local slaughterhouse; their bodies were later destroyed in a firehouse. The town's name is believed to be derived from the name of John A. King, one of the first white settlers in the area.

Geography

Northampton sits on the west side of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. It is located at 42°20N 72°39W. A total of 21% of the city is permanently protected open space. Northampton is bordered to the north by the towns of Hatfield and Williamsburg, to the west by Westhampton, and to the east by Hadley. New York City is 161 miles (259 km) southwest of Northampton. The Connecticut River's Oxbow is within Northampton's city limits, at the northern base of Mount Nonotuck. The city has a total area of 35.8 square miles (92.6 km²), of which 34.2 sq miles (88.7 km²) are land and 1.5sq miles (3.9km²) is water. The art deco Calvin Coolidge Bridge connects Northampton with Hadley across the Connecticut river. The college town of Amherst is located 7 miles (11 km) east of Northamptonshire, next to Hadley, and Springfield is located 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Northhampton. Boston is 104 miles (167 km) by highway east of N.ampton, and N.Y. City is 154 miles (250 km) west of N Nampton, by highway north of N Cadillac Road. The town of Easthampton is located to the south by Easthampton, and the town of Springfield is to the southeast.

Climate

Northampton has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), typical of western Massachusetts. Winters are cold and snowy, and summers are warm and humid. Precipitation is evenly distributed year-around, with an annual average of 46.14 inches (1,172 millimetres). Northampton is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which runs through the town of Amherst. It is the only town in the state to have a post-secondary school. The town has a population of 3,000, making it one of the smallest cities in the U.S. to have more than 1,000 students. The city is home to the University of Northampton, which has a campus of 2,000 faculty and university facilities. It also has a hospital, the Northampton Medical Center, which was established in 1858. The hospital's name is a reference to the town's founder, William Northampton. It was named after Northampton Town, Massachusetts, which is located in the north of the town. It has a latitude and long-term name of Northampton Town, and a long-range name of "Northampton International Airport", which was founded in 1859. It lies on the Turnpikes, which are the only major highway through the city. Northampton has an average annual rainfall of 46.14 in January and February and an average annual rainfall of 46.4 in January and March in February.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 28,549 people, 12,000 households, and 5,895 families residing in the city. Northampton has the most lesbian couples per capita of any city in the US. The city's public schools include four elementary schools (kindergarten through 5th grade), one middle school, one high school (9th to 12th grade) and one vocational-agricultural high school. There are several private schools in Northampton and a number of charter schools in surrounding towns. According to the website ePodunk's Gay Index, which is based on figures from the 2000 US Census, North Southampton has a score of 535, vs. a national average score of 100 (i.e., Northampton's population includes 5.35 times the national average of same-sex unmarried households). The per capita income for the city was $33,440. About 7.8% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 7.2% ofThose age 65 or over. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was2.81. The median age was 40 years, with 20.7% age 19 and under, 9.8%. For every 100 females, there are 75.8 males. For each 100 females age 18 or over, there there are 71.9 males. the city's median income was $56,999, and the median income for a family was $80,179.

Government

Gina-Louise Sciarra is the mayor of Northampton. The city also has a nine-member city council, composed of seven ward representatives and two at-large members. The three other elected city-wide bodies are the School Committee, the Trustees of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School and the Trustee of Forbes Library. The Paradise City Forum was founded November 2001 to provide a nonpartisan discussion tool for the community. The council meets twice monthly for 10 months out of the year. The mayor is elected for a two-year term. The current mayor is serving her first term, which ends in May. The next mayor will be elected in May 2015, and will serve a second term of three years, until the next mayor is inaugurated in May 2016. The last mayor was James "Big Jim" Cahillane, who served from 1954 to 1960. Well-known Judge Sean M. Dunphy was the youngest elected mayor in the city's history, at age 28. The future President of the U.S. Calvin Coolidge (1910-1911) was the first mayor in Northampton's history to be elected to a full term in 1923. The first mayor to serve two terms in a row was James Cahillanes (1954-1960) in 1954-1955, and the second was James C. Cahillans (1955-1958) in 1959-1960. The previous mayor to have served two terms was James A. "Jim" Cawillane (1952-1957), who was elected to his third term in 1957.

Education

Northampton is home to Smith College. Smith students (along with those of the associated Five Colleges) contribute to Northampton's college town atmosphere. The Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech is located in Northampton. Northampton is also home to the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the College of St. Rose of Sharon, both of which are part of the Catholic diocese of Leominster. The Northampton School for the Deaf and Blind is also located in the town. The University of Northampton offers a number of programs for deaf and hearing-impaired students. The College of Saint Rose of Gloucester offers a program for deaf students that is part of a national network of schools. The U.S. College of Pharmacy and Dentistry is also based in the city. It offers a range of programs that cater to the needs of the deaf and hard-of-hearing, as well as a variety of special education programs for the visually impaired. The college's nursing program offers a wide variety of programs, including a program that specializes in the care of the elderly and disabled. The school's dental center offers a series of programs to help the visually- impaired. It is also the home of the Northampton Speech and Hearing Center, which provides care for children and adults with developmental disabilities. The town's public schools include Northampton High School, Northampton College, and Northampton Technical and Vocational High School. It also hosts the Clarke School of the Arts and Sciences.

Transportation

Northampton is served by four exits of Interstate 91, which passes to the east of downtown along the Connecticut River. U.S. Route 5, Massachusetts Route 9, and Massachusetts Route 10 all intersect in the city's downtown area. The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority operates several local passenger buses that originate in Northampton. There is a Peter Pan Bus terminal with services to Springfield, Boston, and other locations in New England. Northampton Airport is a small general aviation airport located one mile northeast of the Northampton central business district. The closest major airport is Bradley International Airport, located roughly 27 miles to the south in Windsor Locks, Connecticut near the CT-MA state line. The north-south Manhan Rail Trail extends from the downtown into neighboring Easthampton, and as part of the Farmington Canal Trail is planned eventually to reach New Haven, Connecticut. The Norwottuck Rail Trail runs eastward from Woodmont Road through Hadley, Amherst, and into Belchertown, with planned future integration into the Central Mass Rail Trail to Boston. In 2019, Northampton became a stop on the New HavenSpringfield Shuttle in a pilot program running from New Haven, Connecticut to Greenfield with adjacent station stops there northerly and Holyoke, respectively. The city of Northampton faces daily traffic congestion in the downtown area and connector roads, often resulting in long delays and traffic buildup. The limitation of one bridge across the Connecticut river, few routes to the nearby city of AmherSt, and a busy main street results in unsafe driving behavior and danger to pedestrians.

Points of interest

Northampton is home to Smith College, one of the Seven Sisters. 21% of Northampton is protected open space. The Norwottuck Rail Trail extends 18 miles (29 km) from Leeds, Florence, to Amherst and Belchertown. The Three County Fair is the "longest consecutive running agricultural fair in the country", having been established and incorporated in 1818. The Northampton Independent Film Festival (NIFF) is held each fall. In the TMNT series the turtles and Casey Jones visit Casey Jones's grandmother's house in Northampton. Northampton Pride is an annual gay, bisexual, transgender, and transgender pride march on the third Saturday of May. The town is also home to the Northampton Community Music Center (MCMC) which hosts a variety of music and dance events. The city is the home of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) which houses the Calvin Coolidge presidential library and the Cutter Expansive Library of the Dewey Decimal Classification system. The museum is one of only a few in the world that use the Dewy Decimal classification system rather than Dewey or Dewey Dewey Classification. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is based in the town and was founded in 1887. The AIA is a national organization of architects, engineers, and architects. The AMHA is also the largest museum of natural history in the United States, with more than 2,000 acres of land. It is located in the historic Elm Street/Round Hill Historic District.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts = 10.1. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 55. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 80. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Northampton = 3.3 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 3,889 individuals with a median age of 40 age the population dropped by -2.30% in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 863.49 residents per square mile of area (333.40/km²). There are average 2.07 people per household in the 12,012 households with an average household income of $51,583 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.10% of the available work force and has dropped -4.68% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 24.54%. The number of physicians in Northampton per 100,000 population = 344.4.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Northampton = 43 inches and the annual snowfall = 43.9 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 121. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 189. 83 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 14.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 54, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts which are owned by the occupant = 51.63%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 58 years with median home cost = $323,630 and home appreciation of 0.50%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $14.78 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $7,982 per student. There are 10.9 students for each teacher in the school, 1333 students for each Librarian and 417 students for each Counselor. 6.44% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 21.22% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 25.23% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).