The 19th-century soprano Jenny Lind called it "the Paradise of America," spawning the moniker "Paradise City." Various news outlets have dubbed it "Lesbianville, USA" because of the town's sizable Sapphic community. Some locals call it "Hamp," others "Noho," a nod to its perennial artiness. Call it what you will, sometime between its Puritan beginnings and its milltown heyday, Northampton became a magnet for artists, writers, and other free spirits. The founding of Smith College for women in 1871 fueled the flow of intelligentsia. Today Smith, the largest liberal arts college for women in the country, bolsters a downtown filled with boutiques, movie houses, clubs, ethnic restaurants, and a competitive latte circuit. The compact city core survived the end of the industrial era . By the 1980s Northampton was on the rebound , with several factory buildings retooled to house artists' studios . Visitors sometimes grouse about scarce parking, but that's usually because they don't know where to look. Stash the car at one of the two big lots at the junction of Crafts and Hampton avenues and Conz Street , or in the inexpensive public parking garage off Hampton.
Paradise found
Rich arts scene and funky shopping in a college town true to its past
Main Street (Route 9) presents many an alluring storefront, but it's worth turning a few corners to discover what may be just out of sight -- like the used and antiquarian bookstores the Connecticut River Valley is famous for. Browsers are welcome at Raven Used Books (4 Old South St., 413-584-9868, ravenusedbooks.com ), Gabriel Books (21 Market St., 413-586-5596 ), the Metropolitan (9 3/4 Market St., 413-586-7077 ), Half Moon Books (7 Pearl St., 413-586-3988 ), and the Old Book Store (32 Masonic St., 413-586-0576 ).
At the west end of Main, Smith College Museum of Art (Brown Fine Arts Center, Elm and Main streets, 413-585-2760, www.smith.edu/artmuseum ) houses a warren of intimate galleries and a cafe.
Ambitious walkers can amble east to the other end of town, past the railroad bridge where Main turns into Bridge Street, to Historic Northampton (46 Bridge St., 413-584-6011, historic-northampton.org ), a campus of three houses dating from 1730-1813 . The museum complex offers house tours and exhibits that plumb Noho's early history, from witchcraft to silk farming.
