>> WITH READY POWER AVAILABLE FROM ITS FLOWING STREAMS AND
RIVERS, BERKSHIRE COUNTY WAS AN IDEAL PLACE TO START WOOL LEN,
PAPER, GLASS, AND IRON MILLS BUT ONCE THAT INDUSTRY LEFT THE
REGION TOWNS WERE LEFT WITH EMPTY, MAMMOTH HULKING
STRUCTURES LINING THE STREETS AND RIVER BANKS.
WHILE SOME HAVE FOUND NEW LIFE OTHERS WERE NOT AS FORTUNATE IN.
PART TWO OF THIS LOOK AT REPURPOSED MILL BUILDINGS IN THE
REGION, DAVE FRASER BEGINS WITH ONE OF THE GREATEST SUCCESS
STORIES, THE MASSACHUSETTS MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN
NORTH ADAMS.
>> AFTER MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF PLANNING, THEY OPENED IN MAY
2009 AS THE LARGEST CENTER OF CONTEMPORARY AND PERFORMING ART
IN THE UNITED STATES.
>> IT CHANGED THE IMAGE OF THE COMMUNITY.
WE WERE NO LONGER THAT DIRTY OLD MILL TOWN.
>> THIS WAS A GAME CHANGER FOR US, FEELING LIKE THIS MUSEUM HAS
FOUND ITS FOOTING AND NORTH ADAMS IS FEELING LIKE A MUCH
MORE HEALTHY, ROBUST COMMUNITY THAN WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED.
>> THE TRANSFORMATION OF SPRAGUE ELECTRIC IS ARGUABLY ONE OF THE
GREATEST MILL BUILDING SUCCESS STORIES IN THE REGION.
MILLS IN THE BERKSHIRES DATE BACK TO THE MID-1700s.
THE FIRST PAPER MILL CAME IN, IN 1799 AND BY 1865, THEY HAD 52
SETS OF MACHINERY AND EMPLOYED ALMOST A THOUSAND MEN AND WOMEN.
>> BERKSHIRE COUNTY WAS THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF WOOL IN THE
NATION.
IT PRODUCED OVER HALF OF THE WOOL FOR THE ENTIRE NATION.
>> JOHN DIXON IS THE AUTHOR OF A BOOK WHICH CONCALS THAT REGION'S
EXPANSE OF MANUFACTURING, SUPPORTED BY A CAST OF
ENTREPRENEURS AND INVENTORS WHO TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE REGION'S
NATURAL RESOURCES TO MAKE A LIVING FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR
FAMILIES.
>> I WAS AWED BY THE MAGNITUDE OF HOW MUCH INDUSTRY THERE WAS
IN THIS AREA, AND TO SAY BY THE END OF THE 1800s, THERE WERE 500
MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY ALONE IS HUGE.
>> RIVERS FLOW SWIFTLY THROUGH TOWNS CREATING AN IDEAL FOR
WATER POWER WHICH ALLOWED THE INDUSTRY TO THRIVE.
FIVE PAPER MILLS WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE BERKSHIRES
BEFORE 1820.
BY 1840, THE COUNSTY PRODUCED MORE PAPER THAN ANY OTHER COUNTY
IN THE UNITED STATES.
SOMETHING IT MAINTAINED THROUGH THE CIVIL WAR.
>> THE OWNERS WERE EMBEDDED IN THE COMMUNITY, FROM THE
COMMUNITY.
THEY ENDED UP BEING VERY PHILANTHROPIC IN THE COMMUNITY.
THE CRANES BUILT A LIBRARY IN DALTON BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANT
THEIR WORKERS GOING TO SALOONS AT THE END OF THE DAY AND THEY
WANTED TO HAVE THEM HAVE SOMETHING ELSE.
THEY BUILT CHURCHES.
THEY BUILT MUSEUMS.
SO THEY REALLY SAW THE EDUCATION OF THEIR OWN WORKERS AS PART OF
THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.
>> BACK IN NORTH ADAMS THE ONCE BUSTLING FACTORY TOWN NOW
FOSTERS PRODUCTION AND INNOVATION IN A NEW FIELD.
THE CREATIVE ECONOMY.
>> SINCE THE LOSS IN 1899 NORTH ADAMS HAS BECOME A CREATIVE
MELTING POT DRAWING ON AN ELEP PARTICULAR COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS
SEARCHING FOR DYNAMIC AND AFFORDABLE PLACES TO LIVE.
A FORMER WOOL LEN MILL HAS BEEN CONVERTED INTO 40 ARTISTS'
LOFTS.
>> WE CAN MAKE ART HERE.
WE CAN HAVE TOOLS AND MACHINERY AND WE'RE ALLOWED TO WORK AND
LIVE IN THESE SPOTS.
THE EARLIEST FILM, I BELIEVE, 1917, OF THE MILL OPERATION, AND
IT'S INCREDIBLE.
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WORKING HERE, LIVING HERE, AND DYING
HERE, PROBABLY, ACCIDENTS AND THINGS.
IT WAS PRETTY IMPORTANT IN THE 19th CENTURY.
♪ >> WHILE MILL BUILDINGS ARE
DIFFICULT TO REVITALIZE THE BENEFITS CAN BE SIGNIFICANT.
THROUGH MILL REVITALIZATION PROJECTS, MUNICIPALITIES HAVE AN
OPPORTUNITY TO REJUVENATE THE HEART OF A COMMUNITY.
DESPITE THIS PROGRESS THERE ARE STILL MANY MILL BUILDINGS THAT
SIT VACANT AWAITING THEIR NEXT CHAPTER.
>> WE DRIVE BY THEM ALL THE TIME.
WE WONDER WHAT WAS IN THEM.
WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED THERE EVERY
DAY, WHO WORKED SIX DAYS OUT OF THE WEEK, 12 HOURS A DAY.
THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS.