The theaters have closed down. If you don't drive, it's hard to get down to the cinemas there on the Curran Highway. In the early '70's, when the last piece of heavy equipment rolled out of town, and the final truckload of junk headed to the landfill, North Adams was left with a huge plot of dirt on the south side of Main Street. For many years, the only reason anyone had to go there was when the carnival came to town. In a photo taken by Sonny Shapiro, probably around the same time, there is no carnival, just a few cars parked in no particular order, and virtually nothing between the Blackinton Block and the new Transcript building.
Writers often depend on romantic images for inspiration.
If I close my eyes, I can imagine a middle-aged couple in some club or dance hall in the late '60's. They are holding each other close and dancing the last dance, as an era fades into history. It probably didn't happen that way. Supposedly, the day before Pat's Caf came down on Ashland Street, patrons had one last fling, drinking a toast to Pat as the crane waited outside. It started raining as we headed across Stewart White Road in Cheshire, which connects to East Road in Adams and comes out by the McCann School.