Robert was strongly connected to his company and to the people of North Adams.
The population of North Adams dropped by 4,000 and the unemployment climbed to 14%.
For much of its existence, North Adams was a mill town.
It also became the largest employer in North Adams, with some 3,200 workers by 1905.
North Adams has become home for several new restaurants, contemporary art galleries and cultural organizations.
Probably no one who lives in North Adams would have thought of turning the factory into a haven for high culture.
The first section opened from the state line to the west end of the tunnel at North Adams in 1859.
They occupy nearly a third of North Adams's downtown business district.
North Adams took the building over in the 1980s.
North Adams cut into Vermont's advantage in the bottom half of the fourth.