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This monument was installed in 1951 on West Main Street to mark the location of the North Adams Iron Co., which smelted iron for the Union's first ironclad ship.

North Adams Marking Monitor Anniversary

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Celebrations are being held all over the country in honor of the 150th anniversary of various Civil War battles and events. It is always nice to have a local connection.

The public is invited to attend when North Adams holds its own commemoration on Friday, March 9, at 1:30 p.m. for the sesquicentennial of the battle of the first ironclads the Monitor and the Merrimac.

The North Adams Iron Co. smelted pig iron from Furnace Hill and the Paul farm in the Notch and shipped it to a foundry in Troy, N.Y., to be used in making plates for the turret of the USS Monitor, the Union ironclad. The North Adams Historical Society will sponsor the laying of a patriotic wreath as well as pertinent readings by members at the Monitor Monument on West Main Street, the site of the former foundry.

Special guest will be Brian Ferris, who as a 5-year-old in 1951, was pictured in the North Adams Transcript when the plaque was completed and installed. His father ran Everybody's Market then close by at 19 West Main. The local monument was dedicated Dec. 10, 1951, because of the efforts of Clara Beckley, granddaughter of John Beckley of Canaan Conn., owner of the iron company in the 1850s and 1860s.

Robert Campanile will present the "Monitor vs. the Merrimac" as part of his regular weekly series of talks at the Visitors Museum at Western Gateway Heritage State Park on Saturday, March 10, at 3.
 


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Hundreds Still Without Power in North County, Stamford


A new pole is in place for a transformer on Main Road in Stamford. 

Update: The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., has issued another severe thunderstorm watch until 8 p.m. for Berkshire County, eastern New York and Southern Vermont. 

STAMFORD, Vt. — Nearly 18 hours after severe thunderstorms pummeled the region, hundreds of customers are without power. 

 
The latest update estimates is that power will be back on at 2 p.m. in North Berkshire. Green Mountain Power's outage map could not provide an estimate on power restoration.  
 
Many residents woke up to the sounds of chainsaws and generators on Wednesday morning as clean up from the storm continued.
 
Stamford was hit hard with trees blocking roads and broken utility poles. Some 499 customers in Stamford and Readsboro were without power.
 
A post from Stamford's emergency management director said conditions in North Berkshire were delaying power re-energizing in the Vermont town because it's sourced from National Grid in Massachusetts. 
 
More than 800 customers were without power in Williamstown, Mass., as noon approached. Tree and lines down along Main Street had taken hours for National Grid crews to address and hampered their ability to aid smaller outages in nearby communities. 
 
Williamstown Police posted on Facebook that because of the extensive damage to the electrical supply lines to town, parts of Williamstown may not see power until later tonight or possibly tomorrow.
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